Ukraine's military poured into the Kursk region in August and said it had captured dozens of settlements. Russia's forces have been moving forward slowly on the eastern front in Ukraine's Donetsk region, particularly near the town of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, interviewed by CNN on Thursday, said the Russian advances had been stopped.
"Over the last six days, the enemy hasn't advanced a single metre in the Pokrovsk direction. In other words, our strategy is working," he said.
Residents leave an apartment building damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces in Kursk in August. (AP PHOTO)
The Kursk incursion, he said, had "significantly improved the morale of not only the military, but the entire Ukrainian population".
His comments contrasted with those of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said earlier on Thursday that the Kursk incursion had failed to slow Moscow's advance in eastern Ukraine.
Syrskyi said the Ukrainian military had noted a decrease in shelling and in the intensity of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
"Of course, the enemy has concentrated its most trained units in the Pokrovsk area. But we have taken away their ability to manoeuvre and to deploy their reinforcements from other sectors," he said.
"The Pokrovsk sector remains the most problematic for us, whereas the situation has stabilised in other areas. So I think the strategy was chosen correctly and it will bring us the desired result."
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said Ukrainian troops were holding their positions in Kursk "and with each day of the operation we are proving to the world that Russia can lose this war".Â
Meanwhile, the British government on Friday said it would provide Ukraine with 650 lightweight multi-role missiles worth 162 million pounds ($A316.2 million) to help protect the country from Russian drones and bombing.
Russia last week unleashed its largest air attack on Ukraine since the full-scale war began early in 2022. Ukraine has made repeated requests for more air defence support to defend itself from missile and drone attacks.
The new supply of missiles was announced as British defence minister John Healey attended the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, an ad-hoc coalition of some 50 nations, at a US air base in Germany.
The Ministry of Defence said, in keeping with the new government's commitment to speed deliveries of aid to Ukraine, the first batch of missiles announced on Friday were expected to arrive by the end of the year.
"This new commitment will give an important boost to Ukraine's air defences," Healey said in a statement.
The Ministry of Defence said the missiles made by Thales have a range of more than 6km and can be fired from a variety of platforms on land, sea, and air.
Last Monday, Russia fired more than 200 missiles and drones at Ukraine, killing seven people and striking energy facilities nationwide in what Kyiv called the war's "most massive" attack.
