Russian Defence Ministry claims recapture of Sudzha as Ukrainian forces retreat

The Russian military has taken control of the town of Sudzha, the largest population centre in Russia’s western Kursk region to have been occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) during its seven-month incursion into Russian territory, Russia’s Defence Ministry announced on Thursday.

The ministry, which also announced the fall of two other Ukrainian-occupied villages nearby, shared video footage of Russian troops in Sudzha, much of which appears to have been reduced to rubble in the fighting.

Approximately 100 local residents who were reported missing after the AFU incursion began in August, were found in Sudzha and the surrounding villages, an aide to Russia’s Emergency Situations Minister, told RIA Novosti. Alexander Khinshtein, the acting governor of the Kursk region, said that they had been transported to temporary accommodation centres elsewhere in the region on Thursday.

While recapturing Sudzha has been the Russian military’s priority in the region since it began a major counteroffensive to dislodge the AFU from Russian territory on Saturday, pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Mash said that Ukraine was still in control of six other villages in the region.

Earlier on Thursday, AFU Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi had insisted that the fighting in and around Sudzha was ongoing, despite the fact that Ukrainian troops began withdrawing from the town on Wednesday.