Russia claims capture of village in Ukraine's Sumy region

MOSCOW: Russia on Sunday claimed the capture of a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region after mounting a cross-border offensive while battling Ukrainian troops in its Kursk region.

The defence ministry said in a briefing that its forces in a counter-offensive had “liberated” the small village of Novenke in Sumy region near the border with the Kursk region.

The statement by Russia confirms reports that its troops had mounted a significant offensive into the Sumy region.

On Saturday Kyiv denied any major breakthrough, saying its forces were destroying small groups of Russian troops trying to cross the border.

Russia briefly occupied parts of Sumy region at the start of its all-out invasion in 2022.

Russia also said that its forces had taken back the village of Lebedevka in the Kursk region, where it said it was “continuing to rout Ukrainian units”.

Retaking Lebedevka would bring Russian troops closer to taking back the Ukraine-held town of Sudzha, about 10 kilometres (six miles) away.

Ukraine launched its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in last August, seizing territory viewed by Kyiv as a potential bargaining chip in any peace negotiations. But Russia has since taken back more than two-thirds of the territory.

Recent Russian attacks have reportedly cut off supply routes for Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, although Kyiv has not confirmed this.