Moscow took the town of Sudzha on Thursday and all but erased the massive gains Ukraine made during its surprise incursion last summer, whittling away at Kyiv’s largest bargaining chip in the strained cease-fire talks. “ [Kursk is] completely under our control, and the group that invaded our territory is in isolation,” Putin touted.

Sudzha, with a reported population of about 5,000 people before the offensive, was the biggest town seized by Kyiv's forces last year as part of their surprise cross-border offensive.