Russia has retaken more than 300 square miles of territory in Kursk since Ukraine carried out a cross-border offensive into the Russian border region in summer 2024, a top Russian general has said.
Speaking to Russia’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, Russian Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi said on Feb. 20 that the retaken territory accounts for 64 percent of all land initially captured by Ukraine in its cross-border offensive.
Kyiv has yet to comment on the general’s assertions, which The Epoch Times could not independently verify.
In August 2024, Kyiv launched a surprise cross-border offensive into Kursk, which shares a lengthy border with Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
Ukrainian troops initially captured several hundred square miles of Russian territory in Kursk, which Kyiv had hoped to use as a bargaining chip in eventual cease-fire talks.
Despite fierce Russian counterattacks, Ukrainian forces have continued to hold a significant—but steadily dwindling—swath of Russian territory near the border.
Overnight, he said, “fighters of the 810th Brigade crossed the border of the Russian Federation and Ukraine and entered the enemy’s territory.”
Speaking to reporters in St. Petersburg, Putin further asserted that Russian forces were now “advancing along the entire line of contact.”
In 2022, Moscow invaded and effectively annexed the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, all of which it now views as Russian Federation territory.
On Feb. 24, Russia’s ongoing invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation,” will enter its third year.
In his recent remarks to reporters, Rudskoi echoed Putin’s claims, saying Russian forces were advancing in all directions while Ukraine had fallen back on defensive positions.
“Last year was a turning point in achieving our goals,” Rudskoi, who heads the Russian General Staff’s main operational directorate, said.
“The Kyiv regime will no longer be able to significantly change the situation on the battlefield.”
The general went on to assert that Ukraine had largely “lost the ability to produce the necessary weapons, equipment, and ammunition.”
According to Rudskoi, Russian forces now control 75 percent of the Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions and more than 99 percent of Luhansk.
Restating Moscow’s official position, he declared that all four regions were now Russian Federation territory and would never be returned to Ukraine.
