Ukrainian senior commander says its forces are still defending a small area of ​​territory within Russia that caught almost a year ago.

In August 2024 Ukraine began a surprise incursion in the Kursk region, capturing more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian land.

Ukrainian commander -in -chief Oleksandr Sysky said 10,000 Russian troops are trying to return his forces again.

While Russia has repeatedly insisted that it had captured the entire region, Sysky said Sunday that Ukraine is still holding about 90 square kilometers (56 square miles) in the Kursk region.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Sysky pledged to increase the “scale and depth” of strikes in Russia.

“Of course, we will continue,” he said.

“Given that we are not fighting against the population, we are fighting and destroying purely military objectives.”

Ukraine captured dozens of villages in the Kursk region shortly after its incursion began on August 6, 2024.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Kursk operation placed a buffer area that stopped Russian forces from settle in the main areas of the front east of Ukraine.

But Kyiv’s advances stuck after Russia haste rushed reinforcements in the area – including thousands of troops from its North Korea ally.

In the last few months Ukrainian forces have been withdrawing at KAPK after faced 70,000 Russian troops and heavy drone attacks as part of Moscow’s push to regain the territory.

Last fall, North Korea sent about 11,000 troops to KASK to fight against cross -border Ukrainian encourages.

Western officials told the BBC in January that at least 1,000 North Korean troops in Russia were killed in just three months.

Earlier this month, the government in Pyongyang promised to send thousands of mines cleaning troops and builders to Russia’s Kursk region to restore damaged infrastructure.