MOSCOW — The Kremlin announced Saturday that Russian forces have fully expelled Ukrainian troops from Russia’s Kursk region, marking a major development in the ongoing conflict.

The Kremlin press service released a video showing Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov briefing President Vladimir Putin on the outcome of the military operation.

"Comrade Supreme Commander, the last settlement in the territory of the Kursk region, the village of Gornal, has been liberated from Ukrainian units today," Gerasimov stated.

He said Ukraine’s military operation in the region failed to achieve its objectives, which he described as an attempt to force Russia to divert troops from other critical fronts and to capture territory for potential leverage in future negotiations.

Gerasimov notably expressed gratitude to North Korean forces who, according to him, "fought shoulder to shoulder" with Russian servicemen to reclaim the Kursk region.

He emphasized that the North Korean troops operated exclusively within Russian territory, under a bilateral agreement permitting Russian use of North Korean military support for homeland defense.

Russia launched its "special military operation" against Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian forces began their incursion into the Kursk region in August 2024. — Agencies