March 12, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news

Ukraine’s plan of using Russia’s Kursk region as a bargaining tool in negotiations has collapsed, Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, claimed Wednesday.

Russia has reclaimed 86% of the area and hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken prisoner in the region, Gerasimov claimed as President Vladimir Putin was making his first visit to the region since Ukraine’s incursion in August last year.

“Moreover (the) Kyiv leadership was trying to use the foray into the Kursk region to stop our advances and take away our troops from Donbass,” he said. “This enemy’s plan totally collapsed.”

Ukrainian troops in the region have been surrounded, Gerasimov also claimed.

CNN cannot independently verify the general’s claims.

Putin said the goal is to “completely liberate” the region as soon as possible and raised the possibility of creating a “buffer zone” along Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Appearing on Russian state television dressed in military uniform, Putin also said all Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk will be treated as terrorists.

Some background: Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II. As well as capturing land that could potentially be swapped for Russian-occupied territory, the campaign aimed to divert Moscow’s resources from the front lines in the east. But since then, Ukraine has struggled to hold onto its captured territory, with its grip on the region rapidly deteriorating in recent days.

What Ukraine is saying: Moscow is using airborne troops and special operations forces to push Ukrainian troops out of Kursk, and has carried out air strikes on its own land, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s army, said in a post on Telegram. Russia is attempting to break through Ukrainian defenses in Kursk and move the fighting to the northeastern Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv, he said. His priority is to save his soldiers’ lives even if it means maneuvering them into “more favorable positions” while continuing to hold defense in Kursk for as long as it’s appropriate, he said.

This post was updated with a statement from Ukraine’s military leadership.