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

The daring campaign Ukraine launched last summer to seize and occupy Russian territory appears to be nearing an end.

Russian forces continue their offensive in the Kursk region. According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the buffer zone controlled by Ukraine's Defense Forces continues to shrink, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.