"Today we have information that civilians have been forcibly removed from these territories, which is a gross violation [of the rules] for the treatment of civilians in the zone of armed conflict, their relatives have not been informed where they

Ukraine abides by international humanitarian law and does not target civilians during its current incursion into Russia's western Kursk region, Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.

A total of 162 combat clashes have occurred on the battlefield over the past day, with the Russians continuing to actively assault the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts, where a total of 63 Russian attacks took place.

At least 31 civilians were killed, and 256 were wounded during a Ukrainian offensive in Russia's Kursk region as of September 5. Ukraine launched this major foreign attack, the largest since World War II,

According to documents obtained by the Ukrainian military and shared with The Guardian, Russia's military command foresaw Ukraine's August 6 incursion and failed to act on warnings from those in the region. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment on the reports.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have noted that the Ukrainian military was able to take advantage of the situation to launch its operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast, despite the fact that Russia had known about and had been preparing for it for months.

According to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Ukrainian military exploited the situation for an offensive in the Kursk region, despite Russia knowing and preparing for the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operations for months.

The Russians launched five missile strikes on Ukrainian positions and settlements, using six missiles and conducted 73 airstrikes, using 108 guided bombs, on Friday, 20 September. They also dropped another 25 guided bombs on their own Kursk Oblast.