Russia claims capturing Kursk's Sudzha town, vows to retake entire province soon

Russia has claimed to have captured a key town its Kursk province that had been captured by Ukraine.

The claim comes at a time when negotiations for peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine have picked up peace. Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of US President Donald Trump, arrived in Russia earlier in the day to hold talks with Russian leaders. He is also expected to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia on Thursday claimed that it has captured the town of Sudzha, the largest town that Ukraine had captured in the incursion of Kursk.

“In the course of the offensive operations, units of the North military group liberated the settlements of Melovoy, Podol, and Sudzha,” said the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday, according to CNN.

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Separately, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest update that geolocated footage posted on Wednesday indicated that Russian forces had seized Sudzha and advanced to southern Zaoleshenka, a settlement just northwest of Sudzha.

In August 2024, Ukraine launched a lightening incursion into Kursk and occupied large parts of the province and also made some gains in the adjacent Bryansk province. The idea behind the incursion was that these occupied territories could be used to swap Russia-controlled Ukrainian territory whenever a peace deal is reached. However, Russia has made a string of gains in Kursk in recent months that has eroded Ukraine’s leverage.

Earlier this month, when the Donald Trump administration of the United States suspended military aid and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, Russia launched a renewed thrust in Kursk in which Ukraine. As President Trump has realigned the United States with Russia by moving away from Europe, some had said that the Russian assault appeared to be coordinated with White House to bring Ukraine to its knees.

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Earlier in the day, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would soon retake entire Kursk.

“President (Vladimir Putin) said that this needs to be done as quickly as possible. (It will take) as much time as is necessary to save the maximum number of lives of our military and civilians. But there is no doubt that the Kursk region will be liberated fairly soon,” said Peskov.

Separately, Chief of General Staff General Valery Gerasimov on Wednesday said that Russia has so far recaptured over 86 per cent of the area captured by Ukraine.