Russian troops are reported to be gaining ground in the Kursk area from where Ukraine soldiers are withdrawing

Russian forces have retaken the small town of Sudzha in Russia's Kursk border region from Ukrainian troops, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday. The ministry said the settlements of Melovoi and Podol had also been liberated.

Russian forces have seized Sudzha in the Kursk region and are engaged in combat with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in border villages of the Sumy region. The Russian army may attempt to create a buffer zone near the Russian-Ukrainian border,