Kyiv troops have full control of the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region in their incursion into Russian territory, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The town, the largest that Ukraine has reportedly seized so far, had a pre-war population of about 5,000 people.
Natural gas flows from West Siberian gas fields through pipes that pass through Sudzha and cross the Ukrainian border into Ukraine’s system.
Mr Zelensky said a Ukrainian military commander’s office is being set up in Sudzha. He did not elaborate on the details or the functions of the office.
The news came after it emerged a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian airbases damaged at least two hangars and other areas, satellite images analysed by The Associated Press (AP) show.
Images taken on Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC analysed by the AP show two hangars at Borisoglebsk airbase had been struck, with a field of debris seen around both.
It was not immediately clear what purpose the hangars served. There also appeared to be damage potentially done to two fighter aircraft at the base.
Separately, at Savasleika airbase, one burn mark could be seen on the apron in images on Wednesday, though there was no apparent damage visible to the fighter jets and other aircraft there.
Kursk acting governor Alexei Smirnov on Thursday ordered the evacuation of the Glushkovo region, about 28 miles north-west of Sudzha, where heavy battles are taking place, as Ukraine’s daring incursion into the bordering Kursk region entered its second week.
The evacuation order suggests Ukrainian forces are gradually advancing toward the area. Authorities say more than 120,000 residents in the Kursk region already have been evacuated.
Russia also declared a federal-level state of emergency in the Belgorod region.
A regional-level state of emergency had been declared a day earlier in Belgorod and the change in status suggests officials believe the situation is worsening and hampering the region’s ability to deliver aid.
Residents who suffer severe health damage will be eligible to receive payments of up to 600,000 rubles (£5,136). Those who experience a loss of property are eligible for up to 150,000 rubles (£1,323), Russia’s emergencies ministry said.
Ukraine’s chief military officer General Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukrainian forces have taken about 390 square miles of the Kursk region. The claim could not be independently verified.
The contact lines in Kursk have remained fluid, allowing both sides to move easily, unlike the static front line in eastern Ukraine where it has taken Russian forces months to achieve even incremental gains.
Speaking to reporters at the UN on Wednesday, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky dismissed Mr Syrskyi’s claim of having gained 390 square miles of the Kursk region.
“What’s happening in Kursk is the incursion of terrorist sabotage groups, so there is no front line as such,” Mr Polyansky said.
“There is an incursion because there are forests that are very difficult to control.”
He said Ukrainian troops in the forests will be singled out and eliminated within “a very brief period of time”.
Mr Polyansky called the Ukrainian incursion an “absolutely reckless and mad operation,” and said Ukraine’s aim to force Russia to move its troops from eastern Ukraine is not happening because “we have enough troops there”.
