Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukrainian troops fighting in the Kursk region to surrender, following an appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump to spare their lives.
Trump and Putin both claimed that Russian forces had encircled Ukrainian troops in the region, a statement denied by Kyiv. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that his forces were under increasing pressure.
Russia has launched a rapid counteroffensive in the past week, regaining control of vast areas and settlements previously taken by Ukraine.
“We are sympathetic to President Trump’s call,” Putin said in a televised address on Friday. “If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment.”
Putin added that for Trump’s request to be honored, Ukraine’s military leadership must instruct its troops to surrender.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, claimed that “thousands” of Ukrainian troops were completely surrounded and in a “very bad and vulnerable position.” He warned that failing to spare them could result in a massacre of historic proportions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine rejected these claims, insisting that its forces were not encircled.
“There is no threat of our units being encircled,” Ukraine’s General Staff stated. However, Zelensky acknowledged the intensity of the Russian offensive, saying it had forced Moscow to shift focus away from other key battlegrounds, particularly the eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Despite Russia’s reported advances, Ukrainian forces continued to strike back. A Ukrainian bombardment of the recently recaptured Russian town of Sudzha left one person dead and two others injured, according to Russian officials.
