Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed his country has recaptured Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year, though Kyiv insists its troops are fiercely battling to preserve its foothold in the territory.

Nearly nine months after losing chunks of the Kursk region to a surprise Ukrainian incursion, Russia has announced that its troops have fully reclaimed the border territory.

Acting commander of Russia’s 810th Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin that "scattered groups and individual soldiers" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fighting in the Kursk region "will soon be destroyed," Russian government-controlled RIA Novosti reported on April 27.