Egypt Daily News – Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Saturday that Russia has regained more than 99% of the territory in the Kursk region that Ukraine had seized during an offensive last August.
In televised remarks addressed to President Vladimir Putin, Gerasimov stated: “In the areas of the Kursk region where the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out an incursion, the main portion of the territory has been liberated — that is, 1,260 square kilometers, or 99.5%.”
Earlier in the day, Russia announced the recapture of the second-to-last town still under Ukrainian control in the border region of Kursk, which had been hit by a surprise attack from Kyiv last summer.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said: “During offensive operations, units from the Northern Group of Forces liberated the village of Oleshnya in the Kursk region.”
Following the expulsion of Ukrainian forces from this small border village, only one village remains — Zhurnal, for the Russian army to fully reclaim the Kursk region.
There has been no immediate response from Ukrainian officials regarding these developments.
Meanwhile, TASS reported that fighting continues in Zhurnal, located about 11 kilometers south of Oleshnya. According to Russian security services: “The Russian army has not yet succeeded in expelling the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Zhurnal to fully liberate the Kursk region. Fierce battles are ongoing in the town.”
Russia has been fighting to drive out Ukrainian forces from Kursk since Kyiv launched its surprise cross-border offensive in August 2024.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also reported on Saturday that its forces had taken control of the village of Shevchenko in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Additionally, the ministry accused Ukraine of attacking Russian energy facilities 10 times over the past 24 hours.
On the Ukrainian side, the Air Force reported that Russia launched eight missiles and 87 drones in an overnight assault on Ukraine, resulting in damage across five regions of the country.
Ukrainian air defense units said they shot down 33 Russian drones and redirected 36 others using electronic warfare techniques. No details were provided about the fate of the missiles.
The reported damage occurred in five regions across the south, northeast, and east of Ukraine.
