Ukrainian units quickly drove deep into the Kursk region in several directions, meeting little resistance and sowing chaos and panic. As the most capable Russian units were fighting in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Moscow didn’t have enough land forces to protect the Kursk region and other border areas.

All Ukrainian troops have been forced from parts of Russia’s Kursk region, which Moscow lost control of last year to a surprise Ukrainian incursion, Russia’s top general said in a Kremlin meeting Saturday.

Ukraine has denied Russian claims that it has been forced out of Russia's Kursk region.Valery Gerasimov, chief of staff of Russia's military, said his forces had regained full control of the region, eight months after Ukrainian forces first launched a surprise incursion into the border region,