Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a statement to the media at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 11, 2025. Sergey Bobylev/Host agency RIA Novosti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the western Kursk region for the first time since Russian forces ejected Ukrainian troops from the area last month.
The Kremlin said that during the visit on Tuesday Putin met volunteer organisations in the region and visited the Kursk-II nuclear power plant.
State television showed Putin meeting volunteers and local officials in the region including acting governor Alexander Khinshtein. Putin was accompanied by Sergei Kiriyenko, Kremlin first deputy chief of staff.
Russia said in late April that it had ejected Ukrainian troops from Kursk region, ending the biggest incursion into Russian territory since World War Two.
Just over two years after Russia's 2022 invasion, Ukraine on Aug. 6 launched its boldest attack, smashing through the Russian border into the Kursk region, supported by swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry.
At its height, Ukrainian forces claimed nearly 1,400 square kilometres of Kursk.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
