Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) - Russia’s counter-offensive to retake Ukrainian-held territory in the Kursk region has been “stopped”, a spokesman from Ukraine’s military administration there told AFP Wednesday, after Moscow said it was beginning to repel the surprise incursion.

Russia earlier this month said it had taken back several villages from Ukraine in the region, where Kyiv has held on to swathes of land since its shock offensive began more than a month ago.

“They tried to attack from the flanks, but they were stopped there,” spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky from Ukraine’s military administration in Kursk told AFP.

“The situation was stabilised and today everything is under control, they are not successful,” he said.

A Ukrainian official later played down the claim.

“The Russian operation in the Kursk region is still ongoing, so it is too early to say that it has failed completely,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Dmytrashkivsky also said there were “several thousand” Russian civilians still living in areas occupied by Ukrainian troops.

“In some settlements there are more than 100 people, more than 200, more than 500,” he said.

Russia has not said how many of its civilians remain in the Kyiv-controlled areas, saying only that around 130,000 have fled.

- ‘Nothing works there’ -

Dmytrashkivsky also claimed that Russian strikes on the area as it tries to recapture the land have killed “23 civilians” since the end of August, saying they are “dying with the Ukrainian military”.

He said the civilians are “not allowed to leave” because “the situation must be controlled” but are allowed to “move around” the area.

They can “visit each other, eat there, unite somewhere, dig potatoes now, work in the garden”, Dmytrashkivsky said.

He said the only way the civilians could be allowed to leave for Russian-controlled territory would be if Ukraine and Russia “agree, through international organisations that deal with these issues, to open a green corridor under the supervision of observers”.

Kyiv this week invited the UN to verify the situation of the area it holds in the Kursk region, infuriating Moscow.

Dmytrashkivsky said food into the area is brought from the neighbouring Sumy region in Ukraine.

“The Sumy regional administration allocates funds for bread on a weekly basis. The armed forces provide water, the administration gives food packages,” he said.

“Nothing works there, no shops, no pharmacy, nothing,” he added.

The Russian defence ministry said in a statement that its troops were still on the offensive in some parts of Kursk and were repelling Ukrainian attacks in other areas of the region.

- Missile warehouse ‘wiped out’ -

Earlier on Wednesday, Ukraine said it had struck an arms depot in Russia’s western Tver region, sparking a massive blaze that led to the evacuation of nearby residents.

Videos posted on Russian social media showed a fireball erupting into the night sky, while a shockwave spread out below. Another video showed columns of smoke and flames rising over a body of water.

Ukrainian drones “wiped out a large warehouse of the main missile and artillery directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defence in the town of Toropets, Tver region,” a source in Ukraine’s security services told AFP.

“The warehouse contained missiles for Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition. After the hits by Ukrainian drones, an extremely powerful detonation began,” it added.

According to the source, the fire spread over an area six kilometres wide (four miles).

Toropets is just under 400 kilometres northwest of Moscow.

Ukraine does not typically claim direct responsibility for attacks in Russia, but often welcomes them, arguing they are fair retaliation for strikes Moscow has inflicted on its territory since the war began in 2022.