Ukrainian troops control 100 settlements in Kursk region – Syrskyi
Source: Ukraine 2024. Independence forum
As of August 27, Ukrainian defense forces have secured control over 100 settlements in the Kursk region, according to Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Speaking at the “Ukraine 2024. Independence” forum on Tuesday, Syrskyi said that Ukrainian troops currently hold 1,294 square kilometers of territory in Kursk. Additionally, Ukrainian forces have captured 594 Russian soldiers.
The dire situation made Russia has redeploy some 30,000 of its troops to Kursk from other fronts.
Addressing concerns about the situation in the Pokrovsk area, Syrskyi admitted the situation remains “challenging” though it is still under control. He also argued that the latest incursion into Kursk was in fact Ukraine’s attempt to steal the march on Russia in Sumy.
“Russia intended to advance on Sumy, but we decided to act first and began our advance into Kursk,” Syrskyi said. “One of the objectives of our Kursk operation was to divert enemy forces from other directions. However, the Russians understand this and are now concentrating their efforts on the Pokrovsk front.”
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.