Russian forces have retaken 63.2% of the territory captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region of western Russia, the Russian defence ministry said on Friday.

Ukrainian forces have launched a major new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, a region that Ukraine captured parts of over the summer but has in the past few months struggled to hold amid pressure from Russian and North Korean forces.

Ukraine’s continued focus on Kursk shows how important Kyiv believes it is to hold on to Russian land, especially if Trump pushes both sides to the negotiating table.

Ukrainian soldiers, alongside units of the Ukrainian Defence Forces, have thwarted several Russian assault operations near Kursk. A recording of the intense battles has been published online. Russian troops continue their attempts to push the Ukrainian Defence Forces' units out of the Kursk region in Russia.