Thousands of Ukrainian troops are taking part in an incursion aiming to destabilize Russia by showing up its weaknesses, a top Ukrainian official has told AFP as the assault entered its sixth day.
The Russian army had said about 1,000 Ukrainian troops were deployed in the cross-border incursion which began on Tuesday and appeared to catch the Kremlin off guard, allowing Ukrainian forces to penetrate Russian defensive lines.
Asked whether the 1,000 figure was right, the official said: "It is a lot more... Thousands".
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has waged an unrelenting offensive, occupying swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine and subjecting Ukrainian cities to daily missile and drone attacks.
Russia has evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from the area and Ukraine has also evacuated thousands of people from the Sumy region across the border.
The official said Ukrainian troops would respect international humanitarian law while on Russian territory and had no plans to annex areas they currently hold.
And an overnight missile attack near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv killed a man and his four-year-old son, emergency services said. »
