
MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) - Russian forces retook five settlements held by Ukrainian troops in Russia's western Kursk region, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield report.
One of the retaken villages, Kazach'ya Loknya, lies just north of Sudzha, which Russian forces have been storming since the weekend as they try to eject Ukrainians who have been clinging onto a slice of Kursk since last August.