Casualty rates in Kursk are similar to other parts of the front lines, Ukrainian soldiers told CNN. Ukrainian forces have pushed into the Russian region for five weeks, but say it's getting tougher.

A daring Ukrainian military push into Russia's Kursk region has seen Kyiv's forces seize scores of villages in what has become the largest incursion into Russia since World War II.

The acting governor of the Kursk region said the situation is “complicated,” with Ukraine’s forces now in control of more than two dozen Russian villages.