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Putin orders army to ‘fully liberate’ Kursk region after rapid gains

By AFP
March 13, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the opening ceremony of the Year of Teacher and Mentor, via video link in Moscow, Russia March 2, 2023. — Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the opening ceremony of the Year of Teacher and Mentor, via video link in Moscow, Russia March 2, 2023. — Reuters

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered his army to “fully liberate” Russia´s Kursk region, after days of pushing back Ukrainian troops that have held territory there since August.

“I am counting on the fact that all the combat tasks facing our units will fulfilled, and the territory of the Kursk region will soon be completely liberated from the enemy,” Putin said in televised remarks during a visit to Russian troops fighting there.Putin was shown on Russian television visiting troops involved in the counteroffensive in the Kursk region and listening to a report on their progress.

Putin was shown seated wearing a camouflage-print shirt in a room listening to a report by the Russian armed forces chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that Putin had visited one of the command points for the Kursk group of troops.