Kyiv invites UN, ICRC to Ukraine-held parts of Russia's Kursk

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Monday said it had asked the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to verify the situation in areas of Russia's Kursk region seized by Kyiv.

Ukraine's army caught Russian troops off-guard when it attacked the region of Kursk on August 6, advancing for miles into Russian territory and seizing dozens of towns and villages.

"I instructed the Ukrainian foreign ministry to officially invite the UN and ICRC to join humanitarian efforts in the Kursk region," Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on social media. 

"Ukraine is ready to facilitate their work and prove its adherence to international humanitarian law," he continued. 

Ukraine has been careful to present its army in a different light than the Russian forces that are occupying around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. 

Moscow has denounced the offensive that has pushed some 150,000 Russian civilians to evacuate, and dismissed Kyiv's proposal on Monday.

"This is a pure provocation. And we expect a sober assessment of such provocative statements" by the UN and ICRC, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. 

The remarks come as Moscow is hosting ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric, who will speak with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.

Russia has insisted from the very start that it would expel Ukrainian troops from the region and appeared to be on the back foot until last week, when it said it had recaptured parts of the Kursk region.

As Russia's counteroffensive mounts, Moscow said it retook two villages -- Uspenovka and Borki -- in Kursk on Monday.