Russia says it has totally retaken Kursk, however Ukraine says combating continues
Ukraine dismisses report of Kursk loss as a ‘propaganda ‘trick’.
Russia mentioned its forces have utterly recaptured the embattled Kursk area, eight months after Ukraine’s navy stormed into the Russian territory in a shock counteroffensive, however Ukrainian officers rapidly rejected the declare.
Russia’s navy Chief of Workers Valery Gerasimov made the declaration throughout a video convention with President Vladimir Putin Saturday, saying Russian troops had “liberated” the final village in Kursk below Ukrainian management: Gornal.
“The Kyiv regime’s journey has utterly failed,” Putin advised Gerasimov.
Ukraine’s navy instantly disputed the declare, saying its troopers are nonetheless working in components of Kursk.
“Statements by the enemy management concerning the ‘defeat’ of the Ukrainian troops are nothing greater than propaganda methods,” mentioned Ukraine’s chief of employees in a publish on Telegram.
Nonetheless, he acknowledged Ukraine’s battlefield place within the territory – the place Russian forces have made regular good points in latest months – is “troublesome”.
Kyiv has sought to make use of its maintain on land in Kursk as leverage in future peace talks with Russia, which has seized components of jap and southern Ukraine since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Moscow praises ‘heroism’ of North Korean troops
Saying the Russian advance, Gerasimov additionally paid tribute to North Korean troops combating alongside Russians – the primary official acknowledgement by Moscow of their function within the battle.
He praised the “heroism” of North Korean troopers in Kursk, saying they “supplied important help in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces”.
In accordance with South Korean and Western intelligence businesses, greater than 10,000 troopers from North Korea have been despatched to Russia final yr to assist Moscow combat Ukraine’s forces there.
Ukraine claims it has captured and interrogated a number of of the North Korean troopers combating within the territory.
The claimed Russian recapture of Kursk got here as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned efforts to succeed in a “full and unconditional ceasefire” with United States President Donald Trump on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral on the Vatican.
The Kremlin on Saturday additionally mentioned Putin is able to “resume negotiations with Ukraine with none preconditions”.
Russian troops at the moment are on the border and are poised to beef up threats to the Ukrainian area of Sumy, the place Moscow has carried out incursions in latest weeks.
