Putin visits Kursk region for first time since booting Ukrainian forces from territory

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the western Kursk region on Tuesday, the first time he stopped by since Russian forces ejected Ukrainian troops from the area last month.

During the visit, Putin met with volunteer organizations in the region and went to the Kursk-II nuclear power plant, according to the Kremlin.

State TV showed the Russian president, accompanied by Kremlin first deputy chief of staff Sergei Kiriyenko, meeting volunteers and local officials in the region, including acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein.

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Russia said late last month that it had ejected Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region, putting an end to the biggest incursion into Russian territory since World War II.

On Aug. 6, Ukraine carried out its boldest attack, pushing through the Russian border into the Kursk region, supported by swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry.

Ukrainian forces have claimed as much as about 540 square miles of Kursk.

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This comes after Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkey last week for their first direct peace talks in years, but the two sides failed to reach a ceasefire agreement.

The negotiations were the first face-to-face talks between the two countries since the early weeks of the war that began with a February 2022 invasion by Moscow.

Reuters contributed to this report.