Russia says it has retaken another village in the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces

KYIV Ukraine AP Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces from one of their last remaining footholds in Russia s Kursk region administrators mentioned Saturday According to Russia s Defense Ministry its forces took control of the village of Oleshnya on the dividing line with Ukraine Units of the North military group have liberated the village of Oleshnya in the Kursk region during advancing offensive operations the ministry noted in a announcement The Associated Press was unable to this instant verify the claim and there was no immediate response from Ukrainian leaders According to Russian state news agency TASS Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal particular seven miles kilometers south of Oleshnya The Russian military has yet to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of Gornal in order to utterly liberate the Kursk region Fierce fighting is underway in the settlement the agency communicated citing Russia safety agencies Russian and North Korean soldiers have nearly deprived Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking majority of the region where Ukrainian troops staged a surprise incursion last year In other developments the Ukrainian Air Force communicated that Russia fired exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday It commented of them were intercepted and another were lost likely having been electronically jammed Russian attacks damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight Ukraine s State Crisis Utility commented Saturday Fires were contained and no casualties were informed Russia s Ministry of Defense meanwhile explained its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday