Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that Russian forces have entered Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region for the first time since 2022.
Speaking briefly with medispersons in St. Petersburg about the battlefield situation, a day after the US and Russia held their first high-profile talks in three years, Putin said, "In the early hours of Wednesday, soldiers from the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade crossed the border between the Russian Federation and Ukraine and entered enemy territory."
"Our troops are on the offensive in all sections of the front line," he added, without disclosing further details.
Russia's Ministry of Defence also confirmed the development, posting a video showing an Iskander ballistic missile striking Ukrainian artillery positions in the Sumy region and Russian naval infantrymen using kamikaze drones to target enemy trenches.
However, the ministry did not report any significant advances in its daily briefing on Wednesday.
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Kyiv offered a different account of the events. Andrey Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, claimed that Ukrainian troops had "destroyed" a reconnaissance unit attempting to cross the border. He denied any "large-scale offensive" in the region.
Russia first invaded the Sumy region in the early days of the conflict in February 2022 but withdrew two months later. Since then, Russian forces have been fighting to gradually push Ukrainian troops back from Kursk, with the Ministry of Defence reporting the capture of the village of Sverdlikovo.
"We took many prisoners," a Russian soldier from Russia's battlegroup told reporters.
Meanwhile, teams led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held negotiations in Riyadh on Tuesday to seek an end to the conflict.
While no breakthroughs were achieved, both sides agreed to work towards the normalisation of bilateral ties, which were suspended by the Biden administration in 2022.
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