Aug 13 (Reuters) - Ukraine launched fresh drone attacks

on Russia's border region of Kursk on Tuesday, a day after

President Vladimir Putin lashed out at the West for supporting

Kyiv's surprise incursion into Russian territory.

Russia's defence ministry said its air defence units

destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region, which Ukraine

attacked a week ago and claims to have captured 1,000 square

kilometres (386 square miles) by Monday.

Putin said on Monday that Ukraine's incursion - the largest

since he launched Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in

2022 - was aimed at improving Kyiv's negotiating position ahead

of possible peace talks.

In his most detailed public remarks on the attacks to date,

he also said that Kyiv "with the help of its Western masters" is

trying to slow down the advance of Russian forces in what the

Kremlin calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

He also questioned what negotiations there could be with an

enemy he accused of firing indiscriminately at Russian civilians

and nuclear facilities.

On Monday, Ukraine's top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi told

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday troops were continuing

their advance into Russian territory.

"We continue to conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk

region. Currently, we control about 1,000 square kilometres of

the territory of the Russian Federation," he said in a video

published on Zelenskiy's Telegram account.

Reuters was unable to verify the claims by either side.

The acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, said Ukraine

controlled 28 settlements in the region, and the incursion was

about 12 km (7.5 miles) deep and 40 km (25 miles) wide.

In Kursk, 121,000 people had already left or have been

evacuated and another 59,000 were in the process of being

evacuated, local officials said. In Russia's Belgorod region,

which borders Kursk, 11,000 civilians were also evacuated, the

region's governor said.

Ukrainian forces in Kursk were trying to encircle Sudzha,

where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine, while major

battles were under way near Korenevo, about 22 km (14 miles)

from the border, and Martynovka, according to some military

bloggers.

Ukraine's air force said on Tuesday that Russia launched 38

attack drones and two ballistic missiles on Ukraine overnight.

The whole country was briefly under air raid alerts early on

Tuesday, but these have since been called off.

(Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Shri

Navaratnam and Miral Fahmy)