Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A Russian military commander informed President Vladimir Putin that “the scattered remnants” of the Ukrainian defence forces still present in Russia’s Kursk region will soon face destruction, as reported by the state RIA news agency on Sunday.
“At the moment, we have recaptured the settlement of Gornal and are entrenched in its streets, which is completely under our control,”
The commander was quoted, noting that Russian troops are still clearing forest regions to the west and south of Gornal.
A day earlier, Putin praised what he described as the total failure of the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk after Moscow announced that they had been driven out of the final village they had occupied.
Putin, during heightened diplomatic initiatives by the Trump administration to resolve the Ukraine war, remarked that the removal of Ukrainian troops from Russian territory paved the way for additional Russian achievements within Ukraine.
What role are North Korean soldiers playing in Kursk?
For the first time, Russia has confirmed that the North Korean military is fighting alongside Russian soldiers in Kursk. The head of the military General Staff has commended their “heroism” in aiding the effort to expel Ukrainian forces.
Since Moscow’s international isolation following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, military cooperation between Russia and North Korea has expanded significantly.
Can Ukrainian troops continue to be in Russia?
Meanwhile, Kyiv said its troops continued to be engaged in Kursk and were also active in Belgorod, another border state Russia Ukraine shares. Kyiv said North Korea has supplied Russia with huge amounts of artillery shells, rocket systems, thousands of troops, and ballistic missiles, which Moscow began using for shelling Ukraine in late 2023.
How is Trump leaning on Zelenskiy during Rome talks?
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hoped the capture of Russian territory by his forces would provide them with bargaining power in future negotiations to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. On Saturday in Rome, where both men were guests at the funeral of Pope Francis, Zelenskiy sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump for what the White House characterised as a “very productive” meeting.
Trump is urging Zelenskiy to consider ceding some Ukrainian territory in an effort to conclude the three-year conflict that has resulted in significant casualties and widespread destruction in cities, towns, and villages throughout Ukraine.
