Russian Ministry of Defense "Recaptures Key Kursk Water Facility"

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on the 13th (local time) that it had recaptured the strategic border areas of Suza, Melovoy, and Podol in Kursk Oblast, which had been occupied by Ukrainian forces.

TASS Yonhap News

Suza is a key location with a gas pipeline metering station that transports Russian natural gas to Europe, and it is the largest village occupied by Ukrainian forces.

A Russian military source told TASS, "Suza has served as a major enemy hub and stronghold within Kursk," adding, "Ukrainian forces rely on Suza for all logistics and operations in the area."

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the recapture of Suza just before negotiations between U.S. and Russian delegations. The U.S. delegation, including Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff, arrived in Moscow on the 13th to persuade Russia to accept the '30-day ceasefire plan' agreed upon with Ukraine on the 11th.

Ukraine had planned to use the occupied areas of Kursk as bargaining chips in future territorial exchange negotiations but suffered setbacks due to Russia's counteroffensive. Ukraine claims that Russian forces launched the counterattack with support from North Korean troops.

The announcement of Suza's recapture came just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Kursk military command in military uniform the previous night. At the Kursk command, President Putin instructed Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov to liberate the territory in the area completely and as quickly as possible.

Ukraine launched a surprise attack on Kursk in August last year and occupied some territory. Chief of General Staff Gerasimov reported to President Putin that over 86% of the territory had been recaptured.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said at a briefing that day, "There is no doubt that Kursk will soon be liberated."

During his visit to Kursk, President Putin said, "After fully recapturing the territory in this area, we should also consider establishing a security zone along the border." This has led to speculation that Russian forces might occupy additional Ukrainian territory beyond the border after recapturing Kursk, potentially complicating the ceasefire negotiations further.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.