Ukraine’s presence in Russia’s Kursk region has deteriorated sharply, with the advance threatening Kyiv’s sole territorial bargaining counter at a crucial time in the war.

Efforts to eject Ukrainian forces from Russian territory accelerated after President Trump halted support for Kyiv.

Russian special forces walked inside a gas pipeline to strike Ukrainian units from the rear in the Kursk region, Ukraine’s military and Russian war bloggers reported, as Moscow claimed fresh gains in its push to recapture parts of the border province that Kyiv seized in a shock offensive.

Recent advances by Russian forces against Ukraine in the Kursk region meant that Kyiv’s soldiers were almost surrounded, Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday

Ukrainian troops stormed into Kursk last summer, taking chunks of territory in an unexpected lightning attack. Russia has taken back more than two-thirds of the territory Ukraine initially seized in Kursk.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia was storming the town of Sudzha on Sunday after special forces used a gas pipeline to surprise Ukrainian units as part of a major offensive to eject Ukrainian soldiers from the western Russian region of Kursk, pro-Russian war bloggers said.

Released March 9, 2025Russia's defense ministry released this video on Sunday of what it said were drone strikes on a Ukrainian military column in Russia's Kursk region.Reuters was able to partially confirm the location of the video as Sudzha but could not independently verify the date it was recorded.

Russian forces have reclaimed some Ukrainian-held territory in the Kursk Region, threatening a potential bargaining chip that Kyiv could take into potential peace talks with Moscow.

Russia on Saturday said its troops had retaken three villages seized by Ukraine in the Kursk border region, where Kyiv's forces have been losing ground recently. The Russian Defense Ministry announced the recapture of Viktorovka,

Russia has intensified its attacks in Ukraine, reclaiming three villages in the Kursk region while launching deadly strikes across eastern Ukraine. At least 14 people were killed in overnight assaults.