Ukraine's top military commander said its troops are still defending a small piece of territory occupied within Russia, which was occupied about a year ago.
In August 2024, Ukraine suddenly invaded the Kursk region and occupied 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian land.
Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said 10,000 Russian troops were trying to drive his troops back.
Despite Russia's repeated insistence that this is the entire region, Sirsky said on Sunday that Ukraine is still holding about 90 square kilometers (56 square miles) in the Kursk region.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Syrsky vowed to increase the “scale and depth” of the strike against Russia.
“Of course, we will continue,” he said.
“Given that we are not fighting the population, we are fighting and destroying purely military targets.”
Ukraine occupied dozens of villages in the Kursk region shortly after the invasion on August 6, 2024.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Kursk operation established a buffer zone that prevented Russian troops from deploying in key front areas in eastern Ukraine.
But progress in Kiev has stalled after Russia rushed to the region, including thousands of troops from its allies North Korea.
Ukrainian troops retreated in Kursk in recent months after facing 70,000 Russian troops and heavy drone attacks.
Last fall, an estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers traveled to Kursk to resist Ukraine's cross-border invasion.
Western officials told the BBC in January that in just three months, at least 1,000 North Korean troops were killed in Russia.
Earlier this month, Pyongyang's government promised to send thousands of cleanup troops and builders to Russia's Kursk region to restore damaged infrastructure.
