Ukraine war briefing: Putin visits Kursk as Trump threatens consequences if ceasefire not agreed

• Vladimir Putin has visited Kursk for the first time since Ukraine partly invaded the Russian region in a surprise August 2024 offensive. The Russian president expressed hope his army was on the brink of “fully liberating” Kursk after it claimed to have retaken 24 settlements in the past five days. “I am counting on the fact that all the combat tasks facing our units will be fulfilled, and the territory of the Kursk region will soon be completely liberated from the enemy,” he said on state television.

• Minutes after Putin’s remarks aired, Ukraine’s army commander-in-chief, Gen Oleksandr Syrski, suggested his troops were pulling back to minimise losses. “In the most difficult situation, my priority has been and remains saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. To this end, the units of the defence forces, if necessary, manoeuvre to more favourable positions,” Syrski posted online, in terms typically used to describe a withdrawal.

• Syrskyi said the Russian military was suffering huge personnel and equipment losses while trying to achieve “political gains” by attempting to oust Ukrainian troops. Sudzha is the largest settlement that Ukraine seized in Kursk, and the Ukraine-based Deep State open-source mapping project showed earlier on Wednesday that Kyiv was no longer in full control of it. “The enemy is using assault units of airborne troops and special operations forces to break through our defences, oust our troops out of the Kursk region and move fighting to the territory of Sumy and Kharkiv regions,” Syrskyi said.

• Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv was doing “as much as possible” to protect its soldiers. “The Russians are clearly trying to put maximum pressure on our troops, and our military command is doing what it has to do,” the Ukrainian president told a press conference in Kyiv. “We are preserving the lives of our soldiers as much as possible.”