Ukraine Retreats in a Tactically to A More Defensible Sliver of Land
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Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine
The New York Times
Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from all but a sliver of land in Russia’s Kursk region, according to military analysts and soldiers, as their monthslong campaign to seize and occupy Russian territory appears to be nearing an end in the face of Moscow’s counterattacks.
At the height of the offensive, Ukrainian forces controlled some 500 square miles of Russian territory. By Sunday, they were clinging to a narrow strip of land along the Russian-Ukrainian border, covering barely 30 square miles, according to Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group.
Late last week, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it had retaken Sudzha; on Saturday it said Russian forces had retaken two villages outside the town.
Unlike previous retreats by Kyiv’s forces elsewhere, like in parts of eastern Ukraine, military analysts said what has happened in Kursk was relatively orderly and did not result in the encirclement of a large number of troops — despite claims to the contrary made by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Trump.
“There was no threat of encirclement of Ukrainian troops, and no evidence suggests otherwise,” said Serhii Kuzan, the chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, a nongovernmental research group.
Kyiv had hoped to use its control over Russian land in Kursk as leverage in any negotiation to end the war. Ukraine has agreed to support a U.S.-backed monthlong cease-fire, as long as Russia does the same. The Kremlin has not yet agreed, and appeared to be prolonging negotiations over the cease-fire that Washington and Kyiv proposed last week by laying out conditions.
Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East who has also been acting as an interlocutor with Russia, told CNN on Sunday that he expected the president to speak with Mr. Putin this week. Mr. Witkoff said he had a positive meeting with Mr. Putin last week that lasted three to four hours. He declined to share the specifics of their conversation, but said he remained optimistic that a deal was within reach.
That came after the State Department said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia spoke by phone on Saturday about “next steps,” without providing further details.
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