Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that its forces had taken control of two more settlements in its western Kursk region while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied claims that Ukrainian forces had been encircled in Kursk.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, its troops captured the villages of Rubanshchina and Zaoleshenka during their offensive operations in Kursk, and attacked Ukrainian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
Russian engineering units had also begun mine-clearing operations in the border areas of Kursk to restore normal life, it said.
TASS news agency on Saturday cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as warning that the window for Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk to surrender was closing fast.
Zelensky, in a social media post on the same day, denied his troops were encircled in Kursk, stating that Ukrainian soldiers remain operational in the region.
Zelensky also warned that Russia troops are massing along Ukraine's eastern border and planning to attack Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region.
He said Ukraine was aware of this and would respond to the attempt.
His remarks followed U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that Ukrainian troops were completely surrounded by Russian forces, urging Russia to spare them.
Zelensky also announced advancements in Ukraine's missile program, confirming that the long-range Neptune missile had undergone successful tests and was used in the combat.
He claimed the new missile has a precision strike capability with a range of 1,000 kilometers.
Russia claims more gains, while Ukraine denies troops surrounded in Kursk
Nearly 100 Taiwan-invested enterprises in east China's Xiamen City have participated in the city's digital transformation scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises, which significantly boosted production efficiency for the companies.
Xiamen is one of the inaugural cities in the country piloting the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Taiwan-invested companies that signed up for digital upgrades covered a wide range of industries including electronic devices, power transmission and distribution and medical instruments.
In the production workshop of a Taiwan-funded circuit board company, digital screens display real-time operations, intelligent robots transport materials, and automatic pickers can quickly match the missing raw materials in the production process. A seven-step production line requires only four technicians.
"They guided us in the digital system construction, process transformation, and some intelligent analysis. Our production efficiency has improved by about 10 percent to 15 percent," said Yang Zhijian, factory director of Junling Electronics (Xiamen) Company.
Some Taiwan-funded enterprises are also actively promoting the digital transformation of the industrial chain and supply chain.
"We have assisted more than 30 enterprises to complete digital assessment, and more than 20 enterprises to finish special transformation, effectively helping enterprises to solve the problems of low production efficiency and quality control," said Li Yong, consulting director of Youda Zhihui Intelligent Manufacturing (Xiamen) Company.
According to statistics, the average production cost after the transformation is reduced by 15 percent, and the management efficiency is also greatly improved.
"We are also encouraging these [digital] service providers to go global and take advantage of cross-strait exchanges and BRICS relations to help companies go overseas. We will also specifically organize supply and demand matching meetings between service providers and Taiwan-funded enterprises," said Song Luwen, director of Department of Small and Medium Enterprises under Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology.
Taiwan enterprises benefit from mainland's digital transformation
Taiwan enterprises benefit from mainland's digital transformation
