Zelensky Pushes 'Buffer Zone' In Conquered Areas Of Kursk With Martial Law 

Ukrainian officials have touted that part of the success of its troop incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region is that Moscow has been forced to divert some of its soldiers from front line fighting in the Donbass to Russia's southern border oblasts.

"(The Russians) are now trying to stop our advance; they have pulled in reserves, which has benefited our defense forces in other areas, because it has become easier to work there," a Ukrainian military commander identified as Dymtro Kholod told CNN Wednesday. 

But there are conflicting claims and counterclaims, with the Russian defense ministry (MoD) announcing it the latest statement that its forces continue to "repel an attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to invade the territory of the Russian Federation" - now just after a week after the cross-border offensive began.

The ministry further explained that its ground troops, supported by air and drone strikes, had successfully prevented Ukrainian troops from making further advances "deep into Russian territory." It mentioned that it defended the small settlements of Skrylevka and Levshinka, which lie about 20km from the border. "The attempts by enemy mobile units using armored equipment to break through deeper into Russian territory have been repelled," the MoD said.

President Zelensky, however, has continued to maintain that his troops are "moving further" into Russia, which also involved major overnight drone attacks targeting four Russian airfields in the "largest attack" of its kind since the war began. 

"In the Kursk region, we are moving further. From one to two kilometers (0.6-1.2 miles) in different areas since the beginning of the day," Zelensky announced on social media. He claimed that "more than 100 Russian servicemen" have been captured in recent days of fighting and that this will "speed up the return home of our boys and girls."

Amid a lot of ongoing speculation over Zelensky's ultimate aim and motives for this cross-border operation which started on Aug.6, the Ukrainian leader unveiled on Wednesday that Ukraine is seeking to establish a "buffer zone" inside Russia to prevent attacks on Ukrainian citizens.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has outlined on Telegram "The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a step to protect our border communities from daily enemy attacks." He said that Sumy along has seen 20,000 Ukrainians evacuated through the course of the war.

Surprisingly, Klymenko suggested the indefinite occupation of Kursk territory that Ukraine has captured over the past week. He asserted that Russian citizens in Kursk "were abandoned by Russia without the most necessary things" and that the Ukrainian military is looking to supply "the needs of the locals for drinking water, food, medicines and hygiene kits so that we can organize humanitarian aid as soon as possible…"

Similarly, Ukrainian Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk spoke the same day about establishing a "security zone" in areas which have been taken:

"There are Russian civilians within this zone. They are protected by international humanitarian law, which Ukraine fully complies with," she said, so the Ukrainian military would "conduct humanitarian operations to support civilians within the mentioned zone" as well as open corridors for civilians to evacuate, either into Ukraine or within Russia.

One of the ironies in all of this is that previously in the war President Putin himself spoke about establishing a 'buffer zone' on the other side of the Ukraine border, to prevent southern Russian settlements from coming under attack.

It seems Ukraine's offensive is coming at a very high cost, per Russian sources:

The Ukrainian armed forces lose up to 270 soldiers and 16 armored vehicles, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Wednesday.

"In the past day, the losses of the armed forces of Ukraine amounted to 270 military personnel and 16 armored vehicles, including two tanks, an armored personnel carrier Stryker, 13 armored combat vehicles, as well as 10 vehicles and a 122-mm D-30 howitzer," the ministry said, adding that Russian troops repelled six Ukrainian attacks around five settlements in the region.

Ukrainian troops lost up to 2,300 servicemen and 37 tanks during their offensive in the Kursk Region, the ministry added.

A high-risk, ultra provocative PR-driven decision of Zelensky...

But now, adding insult to injury, Zelensky is even reportedly talking about the imposition of martial law in Kursk areas under control of the Ukrainian army. He said later in the day Wednesday that there's still a "good pace" of advance into Russia.