CNN
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Russia has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year, President Vladimir Putin said, in what would mark a major boost for Moscow at a crucial time in the war.
“The Kyiv regime’s adventure has completely failed,” Putin said Saturday, congratulating the Russian forces that he said defeated the Ukrainian military in the region.
There has been no immediate reaction from Kyiv on Putin’s claim and CNN is unable to independently verify battlefield reports.
Earlier on Saturday, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said that Ukrainian troops were still operating in Kursk.
Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II.
Since then, Russia has been fighting to oust Ukraine’s forces from its borders, while Kyiv had poured precious resources into holding onto its territory there, with the view of using it as a key bargaining chip in any peace talks. The operation was also launched to relieve pressure from the embattled eastern frontline.
If Putin’s claims are true, hopes of using Kursk as a bargaining counter are now gone and Ukraine’s retreat has the potential to dent Kyiv’s political clout as well as its military’s morale after three years of war.
In his address, Putin said recapturing Kursk “creates conditions for further successful actions of our troops in other important areas of the front.”
On Saturday morning, at the funeral of the late Pope Francis in the Vatican, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky briefly met with US President Donald Trump for talks on potential peace negotiations. A White House spokesperson called the meeting “productive.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
