Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied on Saturday (March 15, 2025) that his troops were surrounded in Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow has regained control of significant territory this week. Russia announced that it had recaptured two additional villages in the border region.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump had previously urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on social media to spare the lives of Ukrainian troops he claimed were “completely surrounded” by the Russian Army.
This week, Moscow has been reclaiming land that Ukraine had originally seized in the western Kursk region last summer.
Zelensky acknowledged that the situation in the Kursk area is challenging for Ukraine but refuted Trump’s claims.
“There is no encirclement of our troops,” he stated on social media, adding that: “Our troops are continuing to resist Russian and North Korean forces in the Kursk region.”
Kyiv had hoped to use the Russian territories as leverage in potential negotiations to end the ongoing conflict.
On Saturday, the U.K. hosted a virtual summit to discuss ways to maintain a ceasefire in Ukraine, but Zelensky cautioned that Moscow was determined to “prolong the war” and disregard diplomatic efforts.
He also accused Moscow of amassing troops on the border with the intention of attacking the Sumy region, which was targeted by Moscow at the beginning of its 2022 invasion but has since experienced less intense fighting compared to other eastern regions.
This week, Putin did not commit to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine proposed by the U.S., instead raising concerns and posing “serious questions” about the proposal.
The Kremlin praised its troops for reclaiming territory from Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region, with Moscow releasing images of a devastated center in Sudzha — the main town that had been under Ukrainian control for months.
The Russian Defence Ministry reported that troops had taken control of the villages of Zaoleshenka and Rubanshchina, located north and west of Sudzha.
Russia evacuates civilians
Sudzha was home to approximately 6,000 residents before the conflict erupted, and Ukraine had established a military administration there following its surprise incursion in August 2024.
Footage from the Russian Defence Ministry depicted severe damage to houses and shops in Sudzha, with debris and shattered glass littering the streets, along with Russian flags flying in the area.
The acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinstein, stated that Russia had evacuated 275 civilians from the recently regained areas since Wednesday.
Khinstein mentioned that “174 of the residents are currently in temporary shelters” and that the “evacuation of our residents is ongoing.”
The Kremlin hailed the military operations in Kursk as a significant achievement.
In response to Trump’s plea to spare Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, Putin stated on Friday:
“If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed safety and respectful treatment.”
Russia’s Defence Ministry also reported that military engineers were working to clear the areas previously held by Ukraine.
Russia oil depot fire
Russia deployed nearly 200 firefighters to extinguish a fire at an oil depot caused by a Ukrainian drone strike in the southern Krasnodar region, authorities confirmed.
The Governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, announced early on Saturday that a petrol reserve station in the Black Sea city of Tuapse had been “attacked by the Kyiv regime.”
Elsewhere on the frontlines, Zelensky stated that the situation around the eastern city of Pokrovsk — a target of Russian forces for months — had “stabilized.”
Ukrainian officials also reported that the number of injured individuals from a Russian airstrike on Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvy Rig the previous day had increased to 14.
Moscow has been targeting the central city of Kryvy Rig throughout the invasion, and Kyiv reported that a Russian strike on a residential area caused significant damage to large apartment buildings.
Ukrainian prosecutors confirmed that among the wounded were a two-year-old child and a 15-year-old teenager.
Published – March 15, 2025 07:36 pm IST
