**Russian President Demands Ukrainian Troops Surrender in Kursk Oblast**
Ukrainian soldiers must surrender in the Kursk Oblast, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 14. This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump asked to “spare” the troops he claimed are surrounded.
However, Ukraine’s General Staff denied this claim, saying that Ukrainian units “have regrouped, moved to more favorable defense lines, and are completing their assigned tasks” in Kursk Oblast.
Putin made his statement during a meeting of Russia’s Security Council. He said that some Ukrainian troops are “blocked” in the embattled Russian region and claimed that Moscow will guarantee life and decent treatment in accordance with international law to captured Ukrainian soldiers.
But this claim is at odds with reports about Russia’s treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs). There have been multiple accounts of Ukrainian POWs being tortured or killed while in Russian captivity. As of mid-December 2024, Kyiv has found that 177 captured Ukrainian soldiers were executed on the spot while attempting to surrender.
**Ukraine Denies Claims of Surrounding Troops**
President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on March 14 that the Kursk operation “has completed its task.” He said that Ukraine was able to stabilize the situation near Pokrovsk as well. Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged the “difficult situation” in the region but said that Ukraine will hold the defenses “as long as reasonable and necessary.”
**Background on Kursk Oblast Conflict**
Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024, initially seizing around 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russian territory. Since then, Russian forces, reinforced by North Korean troops, have steadily pushed back against Ukrainian forces.
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