Ukraine soldiers in Kursk almost surrounded, says Russia’s former president Medvedev

Recent rapid advances by Russian forces against Ukraine in the western Russian region of Kursk meant that Kyiv's soldiers were almost surrounded, Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday.

In a post on Telegram, Medvedev wrote: "The lid of the smoking cauldron is almost closed. The offensive continues."

"The offensive continues," he added.

As part of a major offensive to eject Ukrainian soldiers from the Kursk region, the Russian special forces have crept miles through a gas pipeline near the town of Sudzha, reported Reuters citing pro-Russian war bloggers.

The moves are aimed at cutting off thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in the region ahead of Ukrainian talks with the United States on a possible peace deal to end the war.

In August last year, Ukrainian troops had seized about 1,300 square km of Russia's Kursk region. Kyiv had said it was an attempt to gain a bargaining chip in future negotiations and to force Russia to shift forces from eastern Ukraine.

Open source maps on Friday showed Kyiv's contingent in Kursk nearly surrounded after rapid Russian advances, reported Reuters.

According to Reuters report, Ukrainian-born pro-Russian military blogger Yuri Podolyaka said that Russian special forces crept nearly 16 km (10 miles) along the inside of the 1.5 metre wide gas pipeline and spent several days in the pipe before surprising Ukrainian forces from the rear near Sudzha.

A major battle was under way for Sudzha and that Russian forces had surprised Ukrainian soldiers by entering the area via a major gas pipeline, another pro-Russian war blogger Two Majors said.

However, Ukraine's airborne assault forces said in a statement that Russian soldiers had used the pipeline in an attempt to gain a foothold, but the Russians were promptly detected and attacked with rockets, artillery and drones.

On the situation in Kursk region, Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had retaken the village of Lebedevka, as well as seizing Novenke, a hamlet across the border in Ukraine's neighbouring Sumy region.