ISTANBUL

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that his country’s forces are making advances in eastern Ukraine “in square kilometers.”

Speaking at a school in the city of Kyzyl in the Russian Republic of Tuva, Putin claimed that Ukraine did not achieve the main task it set out for itself, which he said was to “stop our offensive in (the) Donbas.”

Putin said Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine has not been so rapid "for a long time."

“The Russian Armed Forces are already bringing territories under its control not by 200-300 meters, but by square kilometers,” he added.

Putin also spoke about the ongoing clashes between Moscow and Kyiv in the Kursk border region, citing two reasons for Ukraine's incursion, the first of which was to stop Russia's offensive in the Donbas region.

The second, he claimed, were political considerations in Ukraine itself.

“The current authorities are not legitimate even under domestic legislation. They were supposed to hold presidential elections but they refused to hold them, citing martial law. And this does not comply with the basic law, the Constitution of Ukraine,” he said.

He claimed that this situation pushes Ukraine to continue its military actions because Kyiv would have to lift martial law if these actions ceased, ultimately leading to a presidential election in the country.

Kyiv's operation in the Kursk region began on the night of August 5-6, when Ukrainian forces entered the region near the town of Sudzha, about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the border.

Putin accused Kyiv of carrying out a “large-scale provocation” and “indiscriminate shooting,” defining the incursion as a “terrorist attack.”

Days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted it was an “operation” by Ukraine’s troops, specifying that the goal is to create a “buffer zone” against cross-border attacks by Russia.