Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed his forces' success in their surprise offensive into Russia's territory, even as Russia made significant gains in the Donetsk region.
A Kremlin spokesman said that the offensive had scuppered any hope of peace talks in the immediate future. Russian President Vladimir Putin is today visiting Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
Ukraine sent troops and tanks over the border on 6 August, piercing several kilometres into Kursk, where they are holding onto a chunk of territory.
But further south, they are on the defensive in the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, a vital transport hub for Ukrainian forces which is located at the intersection of key supply routes.
Taking the city is a long-standing goal for Russia, and its forces have advanced more in recent weeks than they have in the previous two years. They are now around 10km from the outskirts of the city, the head of the local military administration Serhiy Dobriak said.
With more than 53,000 people living in the area, including almost 4,000 children, officials today ordered the evacuation of the metropolitan area, a move which they said was "necessary and inevitable".
Up to 600 people are leaving on a daily basis, and municipal services could be cut off within a week as Russian forces close in, Mr Dobriak revealed.
Elsewhere in the Donetsk region, Russia said it captured the town of Artemovo, which is called Zalizne in Ukrainian.
Zalizne had a population of around 5,000 at the start of 2022, making it one of the largest places captured by Russian troops in recent weeks.
Ukrainian artillery fired on a bus stop in the city of Donetsk, which is under Russia's control, killing a pregnant woman and wounding ten including two children, the Russian-installed governor Denis Pushilin claimed.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to visit Ukraine on Friday to boost ties with Kyiv, weeks after a trip to Moscow in which he rebuked Vladimir Putin over the war.
India's foreign ministry said that the visit would be "landmark and historic", and the first by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine since diplomatic relations were established over thirty years ago.
Ukraine's surprise incursion is the biggest attack on Russian soil since World War II. It has rattled Moscow and taken Ukraine's Western allies by surprise.
Mr Zelensky said that the incursion is achieving Kyiv's objectives, which officials have previously said include stretching Russian forces, creating a "buffer zone" and bringing the war "closer" to an end on "fair" terms.
However Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that Kyiv's attack had pushed the prospect of peace talks further away.
"At the current stage, given this escapade, we will not talk," he said.
He called entering a negotiating process "completely inappropriate" and said future talks "depend on the situation on the battlefield, including in the Kursk region."
Meanwhile Russia, intent on not letting the offensive affect its own advance in eastern Ukraine, claimed another village in the war-battered Donetsk region.
And bracing for a further assault, Ukraine ordered the evacuation of families from the key city of Pokrovsk as Moscow's forces inched closer to the logistics hub.
In Kursk, Zelensky's troops have set up administrative offices and published previously unthinkable footage of Ukrainian soldiers patrolling Russian streets.
"We are achieving our goals. This morning we have another replenishment of the (prisoner of war) exchange fund for our country," Zelensky said, referring to more Russian troops being taken captive.
Yesterday, he said the push into Russian territory was designed to create a "buffer zone".
The prospect of peace talks appeared distant even before Ukraine launched its incursion into Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had demanded Ukraine cede swathes of territory if it wanted a ceasefire.
Mr Zelensky, who has ruled out direct talks with the Kremlin, demands Russia's full withdrawal from Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, and reparations.
Seeking to give impetus to a possible settlement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine on Friday, officials in New Delhi and Kyiv said.
Mr Modi recently visited Moscow, is close with Mr Putin and has made no secret of his desire to bring about an end to the conflict.
Meanwhile, Ukraine was pushing on with its Kursk offensive.
A third bridge over the Seym river inside Russia was hit over the weekend, a Russian military investigator said in a video published by high-profile pro-Kremlin TV commentator Vladimir Solovyov.
It has left Russia with limited supply options, according to Russian military bloggers.
Russia's defence ministry said Russia had thwarted Ukrainian attacks on three more villages.
The incursion has visibly worried Russians, prompting some in Kyiv to hope that sentiment could turn the country against the Kremlin's more than two-year war.
"Accustomed to seeing the war as a television show, Russians are now seeing it up close and personal," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on X.
"If you don't want to see the war, you have to end the war by forcing your 'leadership' to make peace on fair terms."
