Russian President Vladimir Putin said his troops have regained control of Kursk, the border region overtaken in a surprise incursion by Ukraine last year, a claim which Kyiv has denied.
“The Kyiv regime’s adventure has completely failed,” Putin said in video footage released by the Kremlin on Saturday.
“The full defeat of the enemy in the Kursk border region creates conditions for further successful actions by our forces on other important parts of the front,” Putin added.
Ukraine pushed back on the claims, calling them “propaganda” and “wishful thinking.”
“The statements of the representatives of the high command of the aggressor country about the alleged end of hostilities in the territory of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation do not correspond to reality,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Telegram post Saturday.
The “defensive operation” was still underway, the post added, with troops currently engaged in clashes.
“There is no threat of encirclement of our units,” the General Staff added.
Ukraine has been losing ground in the ongoing conflict after seizing hundreds of square miles in August. Putin has touted Moscow’s retaking of major settlements in the region as forces, reinforced by North Korean troops, have pushed them out.
In the video, Russia’s military general staff, Valery Gerasimov, praised the North Korean soldiers who fought “shoulder to shoulder” with Russia.
North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to aid Moscow’s army, according to officials.
Last month, Russia announced that the largest town in Kursk was retaken and that their enemy was encircled. Intelligence reports refuted claims that Ukrainian troops were surrounded, however, and said many had withdrawn from the region.
As the remaining troops prepared to leave, Zelensky said he believed their mission had been “accomplished.”
The initial momentum helped Ukraine occupy border territories in an attempt to divert Moscow’s attention from its east but Russia still managed to advance in cities like Donetsk.
Ukraine tried holding onto the territory to use as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations despite a grueling seven months of battle there.
Following talks with US mediators and Russia and Ukraine on Friday, President Trump said the two sides were “very close to a deal” to end the three year war.
“The two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off,’” he said on Truth Social. “Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW,” he added.
Trump met on Saturday with Zelensky ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral in the first in-person meeting between the two since a public blowout in the Oval Office in February.
With Post wires
