The Russian Armed Forces must as soon as possible finally defeat the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Kursk region and secure the region's security zone. This was stated by the President of the Russian Federation, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin during his visit to the command post of the Kursk Group of Russian troops, where he listened to a report by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia - First Deputy Minister of Defense, Army General Valery Gerasimov.
The head of state thanked all servicemen participating in the Kursk operation and stated that "the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries are of a terrorist nature".
This was the president's first visit to the Kursk region after the attack of the Ukrainian armed forces on the region.
"In the shortest possible time, the Russian armed forces must finally defeat the enemy, who has entrenched himself in the territory of the Kursk region and is conducting military operations here. The Kursk region must be completely liberated and the situation along the state border must be restored. And, of course, we should think about creating a security zone along the state border in the future. I very much hope that all the combat tasks facing our units will certainly be fulfilled and the territory of the Kursk region will be completely liberated from the enemy in the near future," Putin said.
„The people who are in the territory of the Kursk region, committing crimes here against the civilian population, opposing our armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special services, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, are terrorists. This is how the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia qualifies their actions, and it is under this article – The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case against them.
We must, first of all, treat the Ukrainian fighters captured in the Kursk region as terrorists in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation.
We treat all people humanely and must treat them in the future - all those who have fallen into our hands. At the same time, I would like to remind you that foreign mercenaries are not subject to the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War," Putin emphasized.
„I would like to single out those of our units that I have heard about. These are the 76th Guards Airborne Assault Division, the 106th Guards Airborne Assault Division, the 11th Guards Airborne Assault Brigade and the 83rd Guards Airborne Assault Brigade, the 56th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment of the 7th Airborne Assault Division, the 155th Guards Separate Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet and the 810th Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet,“ the president said.
Among the units mentioned by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief were also the 177th Separate Guards Marine Regiment of the Caspian Flotilla, the 22nd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 72nd Motorized Rifle Division and the 1220th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 3rd motorized rifle division.
Over the past week, the 34th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade has been particularly active, the president noted. “We have already talked about the special forces “Akhmat“ and the volunteer formation “Veterans“, which have distinguished themselves with particular courage and efficiency. I would also like to thank the leadership of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff for the work done.
The Ukrainian group in the Kursk region has been isolated, “its systematic destruction is underway“, reported the Chief of the General Staff of Russia Valery Gerasimov to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
“In the last 5 days alone, the actions of the Kursk Army Group in all directions have liberated 24 settlements and 259 square kilometers of territory in the Kursk region.
"About 19% of the losses of the personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as 40% of the losses of equipment over the past six months, came from the fighting in the Kursk region. In total, more than 1,100 square kilometers of territory were liberated during the offensive operations, which is more than 86% of the territory previously occupied by the enemy. "During the military operations in the Kursk direction, the enemy lost more than 67 thousand servicemen - these are the most trained and highly motivated units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and formations of foreign mercenaries," Gerasimov reported.
As a result, the area of \u200b\u200bthe "wedging" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has decreased by more than 2.5 times.
„The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to strike at the formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region with the task of completing the liberation of the territory of the region with access to the state border of the Russian Federation in the shortest possible time.
During the repulse of the attack on the Kursk region, Russian troops "in some areas crossed the state border and entered the Sumy region, where they continue to destroy the enemy's reserves and expand the security zone", Gerasimov continued.
"Over 600 servicemen participated in the operation to cross the gas pipeline behind the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Sudzha, with the „Veterans“, „Akhmat“, 11th brigade and 30th regiment particularly distinguished themselves. These actions were unexpected for the enemy and contributed to the collapse of his defenses and the development of our offensive in the Kursk region. Through the actions of the 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade, the 22nd Motorized Rifle Regiment, a division of the 9th Motorized Rifle Regiment and units of other units, Malaya Loknya and the adjacent settlements were liberated, the enemy suffered heavy losses. And individual small groups under artillery fire and drones from our side began to retreat in a southern direction, losing people in the direction of movement," Gerasimov added.
There is no doubt that the Russian military will soon defeat the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Kursk region, said the acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein.
„The enemy wanted to destroy our villages, our cities. He wanted to bring us to our knees, but he failed. There is no doubt about the victory, about the quick liberation“, he told TASS.
According to Khinshtein, the list of liberated settlements in the border zone is “more than impressive“. “We not only defeated the enemy, liberated the territory, became stronger, but we will also restore and rebuild our villages and cities“, added the acting governor of the region.
The massive attack of the Ukrainian armed forces on the Kursk region began on August 6, 2024. Federal emergency regimes and an anti-terrorist operation are in force in the region. On March 11, 2025, the Ministry of Defense reported that Russian troops had liberated over 100 sq. km. km of the territory of the Kursk region, as well as the settlements of Agronom, Bogdanovka, Bondarevka, Dmitryukov, Zazulevka, Ivashkovsky, Kolmakov, Kubatkin, Martynovka, Mikhailovka, Pravda and Yuzhny. Later, the department announced that the settlements of Kazachya Loknya, 1st Knyazhiy, 2nd Knyazhiy, Zamostye and Mirny had been liberated.