At the height of the campaign, Ukrainian forces controlled some 500 square miles of Russian territory. Now they hold just a small sliver of land along the border.

Russia on Sunday battled to drive the last Ukrainian soldiers from western Russia after a seven-month incursion by Ukraine that aimed to distract Moscow’s forces, gain a bargaining chip and rile President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine has confirmed its withdrawal from the biggest town it held in Kursk, as Russia battles the last of Kyiv’s troops out of the key region. On Thursday, Russia announced it had recaptured the town of Sudzha in Kursk, seven months after Ukrainian forces seized the area in its August 2024 incursion.