MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian forces have retaken a monastery in Russia’s Kursk region where Ukrainian troops had been holed up, state media reported on Tuesday.
TASS news agency quoted a security source as saying Russian forces had captured the St. Nicholas Belogorsky monastery in the village of Gornal.
A Russian military Telegram channel said Ukraine had deployed troops, artillery and drone launchers at the historic site, which it said Russia had retaken after 10 days of fierce fighting. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Russia is close to expelling the last Ukrainian troops from Kursk region, where they smashed across the border in a shock incursion last August. Moscow responded by sending in heavy reinforcements, including soldiers from its ally North Korea.
(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Andrew Heavens)
