Ukraine dismisses report of Kursk loss as a ‘propaganda ‘trick’.
Russia mentioned its forces have fully recaptured the embattled Kursk area, eight months after Ukraine’s navy stormed into the Russian territory in a shock counteroffensive, however Ukrainian officers shortly 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 fully 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 workers in a submit on Telegram.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged Ukraine’s battlefield place within the territory – the place Russian forces have made steady gains in recent 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 japanese and southern Ukraine since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Moscow praises ‘heroism’ of North Korean troops
Asserting the Russian advance, Gerasimov additionally paid tribute to North Korean troops preventing 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 “offered important help in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces”.
In response to South Korean and Western intelligence companies, greater than 10,000 troopers from North Korea have been despatched to Russia final 12 months to assist Moscow struggle Ukraine’s forces there.
Ukraine claims it has captured and interrogated several of the North Korean soldiers preventing within the territory.
The claimed Russian recapture of Kursk got here as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned efforts to achieve 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.
