RUSSIAN forces have checked an effort by Ukrainian troops to expand a week-long cross-border incursion, the Defence Ministry said today, as Kiev said that it has no intention of occupying Russian territory.

According to a Russian Defence Ministry statement, army units, fresh reserves, military aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces have stopped Ukrainian armoured mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia, near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said the operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainian land from long-range strikes launched from Kursk.