Ukraine says it has taken more ground and prisoners during its advance into Russia border region

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces pushed on with their major cross-border advance into Russia’s Kursk region for a second week Wednesday, claiming that they took more ground, captured more Russian prisoners and destroyed a bomber in attacks on military airfields.

Assault troops advanced 1 to 2 kilometers (about a mile) farther into areas of Kursk on Wednesday, the commander of the Ukrainian military, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a video posted on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel.

Ukrainian troops also took more than 100 Russian soldiers prisoner, Syrskyi said. Zelenskyy said they would eventually be swapped for Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Additionally, the troops destroyed a Russian Su-34 jet used to launch devastating glide bombs at Ukrainian front-line positions and cities, Ukraine's General Staff said.

The surprise Ukrainian push into the Kursk region that began Aug. 6 has rattled the Kremlin. The daring operation is the largest attack on Russia since World War II and could involve as many as 10,000 Ukrainian troops backed by armor and artillery, military analysts say.

Syrskyi claims Ukrainian forces have advanced into 1,000 square kilometers (about 390 square miles) of the Kursk region, though it was not possible to independently verify that claim.

If true and if Ukraine actually controls all of that territory in the Kursk region, it would have captured in just one week almost as much Ukrainian land as Russian forces took — 1,175 square kilometers (450 square miles) — between January and July this year, according to calculations by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

Russian authorities acknowledged the Ukrainian gains in the Kursk region, but they described them as smaller than what Kyiv has claimed. Even so, they have evacuated about 132,000 people from the Kursk and Belgorod regions and have plans to evacuate another 59,000 more.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereschuk, said Wednesday that the military plans to open humanitarian corridors that would allow civilians in Ukraine-controlled areas of the Kursk region to head elsewhere in Russia or into Ukraine.

Ukraine also claimed that overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, it conducted its biggest attack on Russian military airfields since the start of the Kremlin's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

A Ukrainian security official told The Associated Press that the aim was to sap Russia’s air power advantage. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that Kyiv has no intention to occupy the Russian territory it controls. Rather, it aims to stop Russia from firing missiles into Ukraine from Kursk, he said.

Analysts say Kyiv's forces targeted the Kursk region because Russia's weak command and control structure there made it vulnerable.

“The situation is still highly fluid, but with clear signs that the Russian command and control of responding units is still coming together, with all-important unity of command not yet achieved,” said retired U.S. Vice Adm. Robert Murrett, a professor and deputy director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Security Policy and Law. “The next 2-3 days will be critical for both sides.”

In AP video shot in Ukraine’s Sumy region, which borders Kursk and which analysts say is serving as a staging ground for the cross-border advance, Ukrainian trucks and armored vehicles traveled along roads lined with thick forests.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Belgorod border region, which is next to Kursk, declared a regional emergency Wednesday during heavy Ukrainian shelling. A federal emergency was declared in Kursk on Saturday.

Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov described the situation there as “extremely difficult and tense,” as the attacks destroyed homes and caused civilian casualties, unnerving locals.

Children, in particular, are being moved to safety, Gladkov said on his Telegram channel, adding that about 5,000 children were in camps in safe areas. He said the previous day that roughly 11,000 people had fled their homes, with about 1,000 staying in temporary accommodation centers.

It wasn't clear how, when — or whether — Ukraine would attempt to extricate itself from the ground it has taken. The Ukrainian military claims it controls 74 settlements, believed to be villages or hamlets, in the Kursk region.

Ukraine’s 1+1 TV channel published a video report Wednesday that it said was from Sudzha, a Russian town about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border. The report showed burned-out columns of Russian military vehicles, and Ukrainian soldiers handing out humanitarian aid to local residents and removing Russian flags from an administrative building.

Russia’s predicament is whether to pull troops from the front line in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where achieving a breakthrough is one of the Kremlin's primary war goals, to defend Kursk and halt the Ukrainian advance.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the developments in Russia are “creating a real dilemma” for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden declined to comment further on the top-secret operation until it is over.

The Institute for the Study of War said the incursion is unlikely to shift the dynamics of the conflict.

“Russian authorities will likely remain extremely averse to pulling Russian military units engaged in combat from (Donetsk) and will likely continue deploying limited numbers of irregular forces to Kursk … due to concerns about further slowing the tempo of Russian operations in these higher priority directions,” it said late Tuesday.

A woman in Belgorod told the AP on Tuesday that the Ukrainian shelling had been more intense for about 10 days until Monday, when it was followed by a lull. The number of people in Belgorod who openly supported the war has decreased since the start of the intensified Ukrainian attacks, she told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

“When explosions started near the city, when people were dying and when all this started happening before our eyes … and when it affected people personally, they stopped at least openly supporting” the war, the woman said.

In his nightly address Tuesday, Zelenskyy said the Kursk operation is also meant to lift the country’s spirits after 900 days of war and to make an emphatic statement about Ukraine’s military capabilities.

“Now all of us in Ukraine should act as unitedly and efficiently as we did in the first weeks and months of this war, when Ukraine took the initiative and began to turn the situation to the benefit of our state,” Zelenskyy said.

Burrows reported from London. Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This image released by Maxar Technologies shows a trench from Selektsionnyi to Lgov, Russia, Monday Aug. 12, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

This image released by Maxar Technologies shows a trench being built southeast of Lgov, west of Kursk, Russia, Monday Aug. 12, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Ukrainian servicemen ride atop on armoured vehicle at the Russian-Ukrainian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Serhii Zaichenko, 63, school guard shows his school which was heavily damaged after Russian airstrike in Mohrytsia, near Russian-Ukrainian border, Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Zaichenko said two people were killed, including one child. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukrainian servicemen ride atop on armoured vehicle at the Russian-Ukrainian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Serhii Zaichenko, 63, school guard walks in the corridor of his school which was heavily damaged after Russian airstrike in Mohrytsia, near Russian-Ukrainian border, Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Zaichenko said two people were killed, including one child. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A local woman hauls her bicycle in front of Ukrainian APC near Russian-Ukrainian border, Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A Ukrainian armoured vehicle drives at the Russian-Ukrainian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukrainian servicemen sit inside their APC after returning from Russian Kursk region, near Russian-Ukrainian border, Sumy region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, a Su-34 bomber of the Russian air force drops FAB-500 bombs on Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, Russian soldiers fire Giatsint-S self-propelled gun towards Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, Russian soldiers fire Giatsint-S self-propelled gun towards Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, Russian Army "Grad" self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher fires rockets toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

Military vehicles drive near the Russian-Ukrainian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Max Verstappen was sixth and Lando Norris only 17th on Saturday in a session that could have a big impact on the Formula 1 title race.

Ferrari's Leclerc, who won the last race in Italy, was fastest by .321 seconds from McLaren's Oscar Piastri, and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. was third. Pole marked a dramatic turnaround for Leclerc, who crashed in the first practice session Friday.

“It hasn’t been an easy weekend because (of) the crash in FP1, which didn’t make me lose confidence. I knew that the pace was there," Leclerc said. "But you’ve got to build back up to speed.”

Leclerc is on pole in Baku for the fourth year running, but he has yet to win the race.

Norris was on what seemed to be a lap fast enough to progress from the first part of qualifying as one of the top 15. But he had to slow for a yellow flag that was apparently for Esteban Ocon's slow-moving Alpine. Norris' time from his first lap missed the 15th-place cutoff by .137 of a second.

“There was nothing I could do” about the yellow flag, Norris said. “Frustrating, but now we look ahead to tomorrow and see where we can maximize the result.”

Norris is second in the standings, 62 points behind Verstappen with eight races remaining.

McLaren confirmed before the race weekend that it would favor Norris over Piastri to help his title challenge, with Norris suggesting the Australian would be asked to make way for him on track in some situations.

That almost certainly won't happen Sunday with 15 places separating the teammates in qualifying. Piastri is aiming to fight for a second career win.

“Our race pace is good, but the Ferrari is certainly not slow,” he said.

Defending champion Verstappen, who hasn't won any of the last six races, seemed better in Baku but was sixth and said he'd clipped a curb at “the worst time it could have happened.” Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was fourth, beating Verstappen in qualifying for the first time all year.

Verstappen said the Red Bull was improved from the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth, but questioned whether the team's attempts to refine the setup ahead of qualifying made things worse.

"On a street circuit you need to be comfortable and confident to be able to attack corners and it is harder to do this when the car is a bit more unpredictable," he said.

George Russell was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.

There was a bizarre incident in the final part of qualifying when Williams' Alex Albon stopped on his way out of the pits to remove a large piece of cooling equipment that the team left in his air intake. Albon qualified 10th and was facing an investigation from the stewards after the session.

Albon's teammate Franco Colapinto, in only his second F1 race weekend, was ninth in the best qualifying result for an Argentine driver in 42 years.

British teen Oliver Bearman, standing in at Haas for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, was 11th after recovering from a crash in the third practice Saturday morning.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Haas driver Oliver Bearman of the United Kingdom walks through the pit lane during the Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands enters the pit lane during the Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain in action during a Formula One Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)