Russia says it has retaken Kursk's biggest town from Ukraine as U.S. awaits ceasefire response

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 7:46 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Russian forces person driven the Ukrainian service retired of the biggest municipality successful Russia's Kursk borderline region, officials claimed Thursday, arsenic U.S. officials sought the Kremlin's effect to a projected 30-day ceasefire successful the three-year warfare that Ukraine has endorsed.

The Russian Defense Ministry's assertion that it recaptured the municipality of Sudzha, hours aft President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders successful Kursk and wore subject fatigues, could not beryllium independently verified. Ukrainian officials made nary contiguous remark connected the claim.

The renewed Russian subject propulsion and Putin's high-profile sojourn to his troops came arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump presses for a diplomatic extremity to the war. The U.S. connected Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of subject assistance for Kyiv aft elder U.S. and Ukrainian officials made advancement connected however to halt the warring during talks held successful Saudi Arabia.

Trump said Wednesday that "it's up to Russia now" arsenic his medication presses Moscow to hold to the ceasefire. The U.S. president has made veiled threats to deed Russia with caller sanctions if it won't prosecute with bid efforts.

"We can, but I anticipation it's not going to beryllium necessary. Sure, we tin pressure. We tin bash that with Russia," Trump told reporters astatine the White House connected Wednesday erstwhile asked astir imaginable sanctions.

Kremlin reluctant to remark publically astir talks

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that U.S. negotiators were connected their mode to Russia, but helium wouldn't remark connected Moscow's presumption of the ceasefire proposal.

"Before the talks start, and they haven't started yet, it would beryllium incorrect to speech astir it successful public," helium told reporters.

Senior U.S. officials accidental they anticipation to spot Russia halt attacks connected Ukraine wrong the adjacent fewer days.

White House property caput Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that nationalist information advisor Mike Waltz spoke Wednesday with his Russian counterpart. She besides confirmed that Trump's peculiar envoy, Steve Witkoff, volition caput to Moscow for talks with Russian officials, perchance including Putin.

By signalling its openness to a ceasefire, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma astatine a clip erstwhile the Russian subject has the precocious manus successful the warfare — whether to judge a truce and wantonness hopes of making caller gains or cull the connection and hazard derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington.

The Ukrainian army's foothold wrong Russia has been nether aggravated unit for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraine's daring incursion past August led to the archetypal concern of Russian ungraded by overseas troops since the Second World War and embarrassed the Kremlin.

Speaking to commanders Wednesday, Putin said helium expected the subject "to wholly escaped the Kursk portion from the force successful the nearest future."

Putin added that successful the aboriginal "it's indispensable to deliberation astir creating a information portion alongside the authorities border," successful a awesome that Moscow could effort to grow its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraine's neighbouring Sumy region. That thought could complicate a ceasefire deal.

Ukraine launched the raid successful a bid to antagonistic the unceasingly glum quality from the beforehand line, arsenic good arsenic gully Russian troops distant from the battlefield wrong Ukraine and summation a bargaining spot successful immoderate bid talks. But the incursion didn't importantly alteration the dynamic of the war.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based deliberation tank, assessed precocious Wednesday that Russian forces were successful power of Sudzha.

Ukraine's apical subject head, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said precocious Wednesday that Russian aviation had carried retired an unprecedented fig of strikes connected Kursk and that arsenic a effect Sudzha had been astir wholly destroyed. He did not remark connected whether Ukraine inactive controlled the colony but said it was "manoeuvring (troops) to much advantageous lines."

Meanwhile, Maj.-Gen. Dmytro Krasylnykov, commandant of Ukraine's Northern Operational Command, which includes the Kursk region, was dismissed from his post, helium told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne connected Wednesday. He told the outlet helium was not fixed a crushed for his dismissal, saying "I'm guessing, but I don't privation to speech astir it yet."