MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. The Russian Armed Forces have cleared Martynovka in the borderline region of Kursk of Ukrainian troops, and a mop-up operation is currently underway in other localities, said Major-General Apty Alaudinov, the deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry, commander of the Akhmat commando unit.

"We have already cleared one locality, Martynovka [of Ukrainian troops]. And two more localities, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye and Russkoye Porechnoye, are currently being mopped up," he told Rossiya-24 television.

The Russian commander said the Ukrainians had been pulling "everything they could" to those settlements with a view to breaching the Russian defenses and establishing a route to push deeper into Russia as they realized that Russian forces had been holding them off.

On August 6, Ukraine launched a major offensive in Russia’s borderline Kursk Region. Air raid sirens have repeatedly rung out in the region. The massive attack killed 12 civilians and injured 121 people, including ten children. As many as 69 injured people remain in hospitals, of which 17 are believed to be in grave condition. Over 120,000 people have either left or been evacuated from the Kursk Region. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has lost roughly 2,300 troops, 37 tanks and 32 armored personnel carriers since fighting began in the Kursk area.