Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the western Kursk region for the first time since Russian forces ejected Ukrainian troops from the area last month.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Putin visited Kursk on the border with Ukraine the day before.
Ukrainian forces made a surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024 in the largest cross-border raid by Kiev’s forces in the nearly 2 ½-year war, before being pushed out by Russian troops nine months later.
Ukraine has not confirmed its expulsion from the area.
Putin visited Kursk Nuclear Power Plant-2, which is still under construction, and spoke at a closed meeting with selected volunteers. He also told acting Governor Alexander Khinshtein that the Kremlin supported the idea of continuing monthly payments to displaced families that still could not return to their homes.
Just over two years after Russia's 2022 attack, Ukraine on August 6 launched its boldest attack, smashing through the Russian border into the Kursk region, supported by swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry.
At its height, Ukrainian forces claimed nearly 1,400 square kilometres of Kursk.
Russian strike targets Ukraine’s training camp
Separately, a Russian missile attack on a Ukrainian military shooting range killed six servicemen and wounded at least 10 more during training on Tuesday, Ukraine's national guard said on Wednesday, adding that the commander of the unit had been suspended.
Russia's defence ministry had said on Tuesday that the missile attack on the training camp in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border killed up to 70 Ukrainian service members, including 20 instructors.
The Ukrainian national guard statement said an internal investigation was underway and the necessary information was shared with law enforcement agencies.
"The investigation will provide a legal assessment of the actions of all persons who made the relevant decisions," it said about the attack on the military unit's shooting range.
After previous deadly strikes on military training camps, Ukraine launched investigations into possible negligence.
Ukraine's military rejects Moscow's assertion of a full withdrawal, stating its forces remain active in parts of Russia’s Kursk region and continue operations in neighbouring Belgorod.
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