Russian officials announced that their troops are trying to evacuate the last Ukrainian soldiers from the Kursk region today. The surprise attack on Kursk has gone down in history as the biggest assault on Russian territory since the Nazi occupation in 1941.

Russian officials stated that their forces are struggling to remove the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk on the border. Ukraine launched a surprise attack on the region seven months ago to divert Moscow’s attention and gain a bargaining chip.

BIGGEST ASSAULT ON RUSSIAN TERRITORY In one of the most striking battles of the three-year Ukraine war, Ukrainian forces advanced towards Kursk on Russia’s western border in August 2024. This marked the biggest attack on Russian territory since the Nazi occupation in 1941. However, a sudden counterattack this month reduced the area under Ukrainian control to around 110 square kilometers. Kiev claimed to have seized over 1,368 square kilometers in 2024.

THEY CONTINUE TO FIGHT BACK Pro-Russian military bloggers claimed that Russia pushed back Ukrainian forces towards the border in some areas, but intense fighting persisted, with Ukrainian forces responding as they withdrew. Both Ukrainian and Russian battlefield maps showed Ukrainian forces uniting on the Russian side of the border in Kursk. Russia claimed to have cleared numerous mines in the region. Putin accused Ukrainian soldiers of committing crimes against civilians in Kursk, a claim Kiev denied. Ukraine stated that around 11,000 North Korean soldiers are fighting alongside Russia in Kursk.