Putin makes landmark visit to Kursk region after Russian Defense Ministry declares area secure
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kursk region for the first time since the Russian Defense Ministry announced it was free from the Ukrainian armed forces, the Kremlin press service reported on Wednesday, May 21. The Kremlin clarified that the visit took place "the day before." During his trip, Putin met with "representatives of volunteer organizations" and the acting governor of Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, according to the Kremlin.
In addition, Putin held a meeting with municipal leaders in the city of Kurchatov and visited the construction site of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant-2. The Kremlin did not provide further details of his visit.
As reported by TASS, during one of the meetings, Putin stated that Ukrainian forces are "trying to move" towards the Russian border and urged for an increase in the demining groups in the region to "enable people to return to their homes as soon as possible." TASS also recalled that Putin’s previous visit to the Kursk region was in March, when Russian troops regained control of the town of Sudzha. This current visit marks the first since the April 26 announcement by the Russian Defense Ministry of the full liberation of the area from Ukrainian forces.
On August 6, 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched an operation in the Kursk region. They captured a section of the border area and advanced several dozen kilometers inward to the Korenevo and Sudzha districts, home to the only point where natural gas from Russia enters Ukraine’s pipeline system before transiting to the EU— the "Sudzha" GIS. The region also hosts the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky openly commented on the Kursk operation for the first time on August 10, stating that Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, informed him about the "transfer of the war onto the aggressor's territory." Zelensky emphasized earlier that Russia had brought war to Ukraine and "must now feel its impact."
On March 14, 2025, President Zelensky announced the conclusion of the Kursk operation, highlighting that the "mission is accomplished": Russian forces withdrew part of their strength from the Kharkiv and Pokrovsk directions. The situation in those areas has "stabilized," and now the Russian forces will find it "very challenging to reoccupy Pokrovsk," Zelensky noted.