MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow said on Friday that its forces had recaptured another village in their drive to dislodge Ukrainian forces from their last remaining footholds inside Russia’s Kursk region.
The defence ministry said Russian troops had retaken Goncharovka, one of only a handful of settlements still in Ukrainian hands. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.
Ukraine said it controlled about 100 settlements at the peak of its shock incursion into western Russia, which it launched on August 10 last year with the aim of diverting Russian forces from eastern Ukraine and securing a bargaining chip in negotiations.
But Russia’s forces, supported by troops from its ally North Korea, have gradually clawed back the lost territory, tightening the squeeze on Ukraine by cutting its supply lines.
President Vladimir Putin this week instructed his commanders to complete the task of ejecting the last Ukrainian troops as soon as possible, saying they would have to “surrender or die”.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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