After clinging for more than seven months to a gradually shrinking area, Ukraine has seen its position worsen sharply in the past week.

Ukrainian troops are still fending off Russian and North Korean forces in the Kursk region but face a potential new attack on Ukraine's northeast Sumy region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian troops have not been encircled by Russian forces in Kursk region, accusing Russian leader Vladimir Putin of “lying” about the situation on the ground.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called his military’s operation in Kursk Oblast a success, as the last remnants of Kyiv’s forces leave the Russian territory they have occupied since August.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine gave no indication Friday that his country’s soldiers would withdraw from Kursk, let alone surrender.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk to surrender, as diplomatic back-and-forth continues over a potential US-brokered ceasefire with Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Russian forces are trying to encircle Ukrainian troops on Ukrainian soil along the Kursk front, but the Ukrainian command is aware of these plans. Source: Ukrinform news agency,