Hours following United States President Donald Trump’s appeal to avoid a massacre, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukrainian troops surrounded in Russia’s western Kursk region would be spared if Kyiv ordered them to surrender.
However, Ukraine has denied that its soldiers were encircled, saying it was a Russian fabrication. Russian President Zelenskyy acknowledged the situation was difficult but credited the Kursk operation with Russian forces from other battlefronts.
In a social media post, Trump claimed thousands of Ukrainian troops were surrounded and urged Putin to spare them, warning of a massacre not seen since World War II.
In a Security Council meeting, Putin responded by saying he had read Trump’s appeal. While accusing Ukrainian forces of committing crimes against civilians, an allegation Kyiv denies, Putin said Russia will guarantee their lives and decent treatment under international law if they surrendered.
Putin said, “To effectively implement the appeal of the US president, a corresponding order from the military-political leadership of Ukraine is needed for its military units to lay down their arms”.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council warned Kyiv that if its forces refused to surrender, “they will all be methodically and mercilessly destroyed”.
Battle for Kursk
Kursk has been a point of discussion of the war since August, when Ukraine launched a counter-invasion into Russian territory. Russian forces are pushing to remove the last Ukrainian presence in the region, with Putin stating the troops face a choice: “surrender or die.”
Military of Ukraine dismissed the reports of encirclement as Russian propaganda, stating its forces had successfully regrouped into stronger defensive positions.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defense ministry claimed that its troops had recover Goncharovka, one of the few remaining Ukrainian-held settlements in Kursk.
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