Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would spare the lives of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region if they laid down their arms.

Russia claimed on Friday that its forces had recaptured another settlement in the Kursk region, which was captured by Ukraine during last year’s incursion. "Units of the Sever (North) Group of Forces liberated the settlement of Goncharovka during offensive operations," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had trapped the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region, where they have clung on for more than seven months in one of the key battles of the war.