MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have received an order to withdraw from the town of Sudzha in Russia's Kursk Region, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky said.
"Units of the defense forces, if needed, can make a maneuver in order to move to more advantageous positions. First of all, this applies to the unmanned component and artillery fire assets. I gave all the necessary orders to this effect," he wrote on Telegram.
The commander-in-chief did not directly announce a Ukrainian withdrawal from the city, but stated that active combat operations are taking place "in the suburbs of Sudzha and the surrounding areas."
Russian forces now continue delivering a crushing defeat to Ukrainian formations in the Kursk Region, liberating five settlements over the past day, including downtown Sudzha. Ukrainian news media reported on Wednesday afternoon that the country’s troops had been driven out of most of the city, but there were no comments from the military command until Syrsky’s statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President and Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin set the goal to defeat all Ukrainian forces in the Kursk Region and create a buffer zone for the region as soon as possible. He ordered the measures during a visit to a command post of the Kursk battlegroup, where he heard a report from the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Defense Minister Army General Valery Gerasimov. According to the general, the Ukrainian battlegroup in Kursk Region has been isolated and is being steadily destroyed. He said that over the past five days alone, the Kursk battlegroup has liberated 24 settlements and 259 square kilometers of the region's territory.