The Ukrainian Armed Forces have denied Moscow's claims that Ukrainian troops were forced to leave the last parts of Russia's Kursk region they controlled, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on "Telegram" that its forces were continuing their operations in some areas of the Kursk region.
The incursion into another part of the Russian Federation - Belgorod region - is also continuing, according to the same source.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army - General Valery Gerasimov, reported to President Vladimir Putin that Russian forces had regained full control over Russia's Kursk region, world agencies reported, citing a statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
In August last year, Ukrainian troops invaded the border region with Ukraine and seized territory there.
"The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin on the completion of the operation to liberate the Kursk region", Peskov said. "Today, the last settlement in the Kursk region - the village of Gormal - was liberated by the Ukrainian units located there", Gerasimov told Putin during a meeting held via videoconference.
"The Kiev regime's adventure has completely failed, and it has suffered huge losses", Putin himself said, quoted by TASS and Agence France-Presse, BTA also writes.
Gerasimov highlighted to Putin the contribution of North Korean servicemen to the success of the operation in the Kursk region, Reuters pointed out. He praised the courage and heroism of North Korean fighters in fully regaining control of Russia's Kursk region.
"The soldiers and officers of the North Korean army, who fought alongside the Russian military, demonstrated great professionalism, resilience, courage and heroism in repelling the Ukrainian invasion," Gerasimov told Putin. He also reported to Putin that fighters from the Russian military unit “North“ had completed the liquidation of sabotage groups in the area of the village of Popovka in Russia's Belgorod region, Reuters and TASS reported.