Three were injured in Russia's Kursk Oblast when the town of Rylsk was allegedly struck by a missile attack on May 11, local governor Alexander Khinshtein claimed.
This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.
"(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin... doesn't want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the bloodbath. Ukraine should agree to this, immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
The Kremlin said the leaders held a detailed discussion about the Russian initiative and Erdogan expressed full support, reiterating Turkey’s readiness to provide a venue and assist in organizing the negotiations.
Erdogan told Macron that international cooperation is critical for initiating peace negotiations and the "sensitive implementation" of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction processes, the Turkish Presidency reported.
The assault began around 2 a.m. on May 11, with Russian forces deploying 108 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs from multiple directions, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
Vladimir Putin during Russian-Mongolian talks on Sep. 3, 2024, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Putin is having a four-day trip to the regions of Eastern Russia and Mongolia. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Russian forces have fully recaptured the territory of Kursk Oblast, the Kremlin claimed on April 26. But despite the declaration of victory, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on April 30 that Ukrainian soldiers remain in the region, Russian state-controlled media reported.
Speaking at an event in Moscow, Putin said the remaining Ukrainian forces are asking commanders for evacuation. “They’ve been pushed out of Kursk Oblast, but remnants are still hiding in cracks and basements, asking to be evacuated,” Putin said.
The Russian president’s remarks follow his April 26 phone call with top military commanders in the region, in which he praised what the Kremlin described as a successful operation to expel Ukrainian troops from Kursk Oblast.
Ukraine dismisses the claims of recapture. According to Ukraine’s General Staff, fighting in certain areas of Kursk Oblast continues.
“The situation is difficult, but our units continue to hold certain positions and carry out tasks as assigned,” the military said on April 26, adding that there is no threat of encirclement.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on April 27 that active defensive operations are ongoing in the Kursk and neighboring Belgorod oblasts.
Russian state media RIA Novosti on April 27 quoted the acting commander of Russia’s 810th Brigade, who reported to Putin that “scattered groups and individual soldiers” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces “will soon be destroyed.”
Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024, marking the first major foreign ground offensive into Russian territory since World War II. The operation sought to delay a planned Russian push into Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast and redirect Russian forces away from eastern Donetsk Oblast.
Moscow began a major counteroffensive in early March, retaking large portions of territory including the town of Sudzha. Ukrainian forces have since withdrawn from much of the area but claim to still maintain limited control in some zones.
On April 26, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov for the first time acknowledged the participation of North Korean troops in the campaign, praising their "fortitude and heroism."
Kyiv and Seoul have previously said that North Korea has dispatched around 11,000 troops to Kursk Oblast, though Moscow has not openly confirmed this until now.
Anna Fratsyvir is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent, with a background in broadcast journalism and international affairs. Previously, she worked as a TV journalist at Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne, covering global politics and international developments. Anna holds a Bachelor's degree in International Communications from Taras Shevchenko National University and is currently an MA candidate in International Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Tim Zadorozhnyy
