Russia evacuates thousands from Kursk as Ukrainian forces advance

Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told Al Jazeera that Ukraine’s political aim is to demonstrate to its Western allies that Ukraine “still has the strength to fight for its sovereignty and territorial integrity”. “Ukrainians have been quite clear in identifying and highlighting that this is not an incursion aiming to occupy Russian territories but rather self-defensive measures,” Seskuria said.