Russia said its forces reclaimed five settlements in the Kursk region, which had been captured by Ukraine during last year’s incursion.

"Units of the Sever (North) group of forces liberated 12 settlements during the offensive: Cossack Village, First Knyazhy, Second Knyazhy, Zamostye and Mirny," the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

The military service also claimed that its forces captured the city centre of Sudzha and continued advancing in several districts of the city.

Earlier this week, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that its forces had reclaimed 12 settlements in the Kursk region.

"Units of the Sever (North) group of forces liberated 12 settlements during the offensive: Agronomist, Bogdanovka, Bondarevka, Dmitryukov, Zazulevka, Ivashkovsky, Kolmakov, Kubatkin, Martynovka, Mikhaylovka, Pravda, and Yuzhny," the ministry said.

The military service also claimed that over the past day, Russian forces had retaken more than 100 square kilometres (38.6 square miles) of territory in the Kursk region.

Meanwhile, Valery Gerasimov, the Russian army's chief of the General Staff, reviewed the progress of the Kursk group's combat operations on Tuesday, the ministry reported.

His visit followed an operation carried out by Russian forces in the vicinity of the city of Sudzha, where servicemen from a combined assault squad advanced about 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) through enemy lines via a subterranean pipeline, surfacing near the city within Ukrainian defences.

The ministry said that after engaging in active battles behind enemy lines, the assault squad helped Russian forces break through Ukraine's fortifications by coordinating with them from opposite directions.

"Thanks to the daring operation of the combined assault squad, the defence management system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was disrupted along the entire combat line in the Kursk region, enabling the liberation of more than eight settlements in just a few days," it added.