Russian President Vladimir Putin called his top commanders in Kursk to congratulate them on a “victory” and the conclusion of the operation to drive Ukrainian forces out of the region in western Russia, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, citing the Kremlin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said in an update on frontline operations that Ukrainian forces were still active in Kursk and the neighbouring Belgorod region.
For months, Russian troops have been working to push out Ukrainian forces who launched a surprise cross-border assault last August, seizing portions of territory.
“Putin congratulated them on their victory and expressed his gratitude for their heroic efforts,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian agencies.
According to Peskov, Putin spoke to the overall commander overseeing operations in Kursk as well as commanders of units that had “particularly distinguished themselves.”
Earlier, the state-run RIA news agency reported that a Russian military commander informed Putin that “the scattered remnants” of the Ukrainian military still in the Kursk region would soon be eliminated.
“We have now retaken the settlement of Gornal and are entrenched in its streets, which are completely under our control,” the commander was quoted by RIA as saying, referring to a village just inside the Russian border.
The commander added that Russian troops were continuing to clear forested areas to the west and south of Gornal.
On Saturday, Putin praised what he described as the total failure of Ukraine’s offensive in Kursk after Russia announced that Ukrainian forces had been expelled from the final village under their control.
Zelensky, posting on the Telegram messaging platform, stated that Ukrainian troops were still carrying out operations in both the Kursk and Belgorod regions.
Citing a report from top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, Zelensky said Russian forces had launched nearly 70 attacks on Ukrainian positions on Sunday, with the situation remaining “difficult” in several areas.
Zelensky said that most fighting was ongoing across three eastern sectors: Pokrovsk — a long-time Russian objective — along with Kramatorsk and Lyman.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, its forces have seized about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky has noted that Ukraine’s operation in Kursk succeeded in drawing significant numbers of Russian troops away from other critical fronts.
The Ukrainian president also met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Rome on Saturday to seek renewed momentum in efforts to end the conflict. Zelensky said the meeting could become historic if it results in achieving the kind of peace he envisions, and a White House spokesperson described the talks as “very productive.”
