To mark Ukraine’s National Flag Day, drone operators from the "Rugby Team" battalion of the 129th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade raised the blue-and-yellow flag over two villages in Russia’s Kursk region—Hornal and Huyevo—historically part of Ukrainian Slobozhanshchyna.
The Kyiv Independent couldn't immediately verify this information.
Slobozhanshchyna spans parts of today’s northeastern Ukraine—including Kharkiv, Sumy, and Luhansk oblasts—as well as areas now within Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk, and Voronezh regions.
Hornal, located on the Psel River, is located about 15 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and 102 kilometers southwest of Kursk. Huyevo is even closer—just 3.5 kilometers from the border and around 96 kilometers from the regional center.
Ukraine's forces entered Russia's Kursk Oblast in a surprise cross-border incursion in August 2024. The Kursk region lies on the border with Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast, which has been experiencing daily attacks since Russian troops were pushed out of the oblast and back across the border in April 2022.
Sumy Oblast and the Kursk region share a 245-kilometer (152-mile) border.
Ukraine's initial goal was to occupy Russian border territories and divert attention from fighting in eastern Ukraine. However, the strategy proved ineffective. Russian troops continued their advance in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, reaching the outskirts of Pokrovsk by late 2024.
Adding to a string of encouraging developments on Aug. 23, Ukrainian forces in Donetsk Oblast repelled Russian attacks and regained control of the village of Zelenyi Hai. Troops from the 37th Separate Marine Brigade, working in coordination with the 214th Separate Assault Battalion “Opfor,” secured the settlement and continued to defend the settlement from repeated Russian attempts to retake it, according to the military.
Zelenyi Hai in Volnovakha district is located approximately 90 to 100 kilometers (about 56 to 62 miles) southwest of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk.
As President Volodymyr Zelensky signals readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war, Russia is gaining ground on the battlefield—strengthening its position ahead of potential negotiations.
Moscow’s current focus is on the Pokrovsk sector in Donetsk Oblast, where Russian troops are gradually advancing northeast of the key logistics hub, once home to around 60,000 people. According to the open-source monitoring group DeepState, Russian forces are attempting to close a 16-kilometer-wide pocket around Pokrovsk.
Russia’s monthly territorial gains have also accelerated. According to a recent U.K. Defense Ministry intelligence update, Moscow likely captured around 500 to 550 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in July alone—marking the fastest rate of advance since March.
However, Zelensky has downplayed the notion that Russia could quickly take over all of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. In a meeting with journalists on Aug. 20, the president noted that at the current pace, it would take Moscow at least another four years to do so. Despite launching its first invasion in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Russia still lacks full control over the region.
Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts remain a central territorial demand from Moscow in any future negotiations. But according to Zelensky, after more than two years of full-scale war, Russia occupies only about one-third of Donetsk Oblast—roughly 67–69%.
"I explained to (U.S. President Donald Trump) that the talks about them (Russia) occupying our Donbas by the end of (2025) are all just chatter," Zelensky said.
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