Moscow, 21 May 

President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's Kursk region for the first time since Moscow said that it drove out Ukrainian forces from the area last month, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

Putin visited the region bordering Ukraine the previous day, according to the Kremlin.

Ukrainian forces made a surprise incursion into Kursk in August, 2024 in one of its biggest battlefield successes in the more than three-year war. The incursion was the first time Russian territory was occupied by an invader since World War II and dealt a humiliating blow to the Kremlin.

Since the end of 2023, Russia has mostly had the advantage on the battlefield, with the exception of Kursk.

Ukraine, the US and South Korea said that North Korea sent up to 12,000 troops to help the Russian army take back control of Kursk, and Russia said on 26 April that its forces had pushed out the Ukrainian army. Kyiv officials denied the claim.

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 Gov Alexander Khinshtein that the Kremlin supported the idea of continuing monthly payments to displaced families that still couldn't return to their homes.

Disgruntled residents had previously shown their disapproval over a lack of compensation in rare organised protests.

Russia's Ministry of Defence said that its air defences shot down 159 Ukrainian drones across the country overnight, including 53 over the Oryol region and 51 over the Bryansk region.