Ukrainian officials have not confirmed a retreat from the town in Russia’s Kursk region, parts of which were captured by Kyiv’s forces last summer.

Russia has taken back the biggest town in Kursk from Ukrainian soldiers, with President Vladimir Putin warning that Kyiv’s remaining force in the region is now trapped and must “surrender or die.”  He also warned that any Ukrainian forces captured in the Russian territory would be treated as “terrorists” — not as prisoners of war — adding that “foreign mercenaries” aren’t subject to the laws of the Geneva Convention.

Russian troops are reported to be gaining ground in the Kursk area from where Ukraine soldiers are withdrawing