Russian forces have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russia's Kursk border region, officials claimed Thursday, as U.S. officials sought the Kremlin's response to a proposed 30-day ceasefire in the three-year that Ukraine has endorsed.
The Ukrainian army’s seven-month foothold in Kursk has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraine's daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin.
The Russian Defense Ministry's claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.
Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly glum news from the front line, as well as draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks.
But the incursion didn’t significantly changed dynamic of the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday visited military headquarters in the region Wednesday and spoke to military commanders there.
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