According to security sources collected by TASS, on April 22, the Russian army regained control of the St. Nicholas Belogorsky monastery in Gornal village, Kursk province.
A Russian military Telegram channel said that the Moscow army went through a fierce 10-day battle to reclaim this historical site, which is believed to be the site where Ukrainian forces deployed a large number of soldiers, artillery and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Russia is also getting closer to pushing the last Ukrainian soldiers out of Kursk Oblast, according to Reuters.
Earlier, on April 19, General Staff of the Russian army, Valery Gerasimov, said that the Russian army had taken almost all of the Ukrainian forces out of Kursk province. Most of the encroached areas have been cleaned up, Gerasimov said.
According to Gerasimov's estimate, Ukraine currently only controls about 3 km2 of the two villages of Oleshnya and Gornal, which are close to the borders of Russia and Ukraine. At that time, the Russian Defense Ministry also announced that it had reclaimed the village of Oleshnya from Ukrainian forces.
On the contrary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that the country's military forces are still operating in the Kursk region and maintain their position.
However, up to now, many international media outlets have commented that the Russian army has re-occupied most of the area that Ukraine once controlled in this border area.
Since August 2024, Ukraine has launched a large-scale surprise attack on Russia's Kursk region. Observers say President Zelensky's decision is aimed at creating a "dead-end card" in any negotiations to end the conflict.
