Putin's Kursk Visit: A Post-Invasion Assessment

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently visited the western Kursk region, marking his first trip since Russian forces removed Ukrainian troops from the area last month.

During the visit, Putin engaged with volunteer organizations and toured the Kursk-II nuclear power plant. State television footage captured him in discussions with volunteers and local officials, including acting Governor Alexander Khinshtein. Putin was accompanied by Sergei Kiriyenko, the Kremlin's first deputy chief of staff.

In a significant military development, Russia announced in late April that it had successfully expelled Ukrainian forces from Kursk, ending the largest incursion into Russian land since World War Two. Following Russia's invasion in 2022, Ukraine launched a major attack on August 6, breaching the Russian border in the Kursk region with drone support and heavy Western weaponry. At the peak, Ukrainian forces controlled nearly 1,400 square kilometers of the region.

(With inputs from agencies.)