KURSK REGION, March 12. /TASS/. Members of the Ukrainian army units fighting against the Russian authorities in the Kursk Region are legally considered terrorists and should be treated as such, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting held at a command post of the Russian Armed Forces in the borderline region.
"The people who are here in the Kursk Region, committing crimes against civilians and fighting against our armed forces, law enforcement agencies and security services are terrorists in accordance with Russian laws," the supreme commander-in-chief noted.
"This is how the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office classifies their actions, and it is under the [Criminal Code] article on terrorism that the Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into them," the head of state added.
Putin mentioned the Ukrainian militants captured in the Kursk Region. "Based on Russian laws, we should treat these people first and foremost as terrorists," he stressed.
The Russian president has visited the Kursk Region for the first time since the Ukrainian incursion. The borderline region came under a massive attack from Ukraine on August 6, 2024. A federal state of emergency is underway in the region and a counterterrorism operation is underway. The Russian Armed Forces continue their operation to wipe out Ukrainian troops; five settlements were liberated in the past 24 hours. In particular, Russian forces took control of the central part of the town of Sudzha.