Russian forces have taken four border villages in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, a local official said Tuesday, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had ordered troops to establish a buffer zone along the border.

Vladimir Putin has visited Kursk for the first time since claiming to have completely retaken the Russian region from Ukrainian forces, state media reported on Wednesday, as the Russian president attempts to repel international pressure to agree to a 30-day ceasefire on the other side of the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s helicopter came under fire from Ukrainian drones during his visit to the contested Kursk region last week, the Kremlin has admitted. Yury Dashkin, commander of an air defense division,

The White House is pushing to end the Ukraine war through talks, but all signs point to the conflict escalating.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the western Kursk region on Tuesday, the first time he stopped by since Russian forces ejected Ukrainian troops from the area.

President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's Kursk region for the first time since Moscow claimed that it drove Ukrainian forces out of the area last month, the Kremlin said Wednesday. Putin visited the region bordering Ukraine the previous day,

According to Yuri Dashkin, commander of an air defense division in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian forces allegedly launched an “unprecedented attack” with drones during Vladimir Putin’s visit to the area on May 20.

Russian military officer and air defense unit commander Yuriy Dashkin claims that the helicopter of Vladimir Putin allegedly came under drone attack in the Kursk region and was in the very "epicenter" of the strike.

The commander of the air defense division, Yuri Dashkin, claims that Vladimir Putin's helicopter was "at the epicenter of repelling a large-scale attack by Ukrainian drones" during the dictator's visit to the Kursk region.

Russia is sending more troops and bombing Ukraine harder than ever. A top Russian leader shared a map showing nearly all of Ukraine under Russian control. Peace talks have stalled, and Western countries fear the war could grow even bigger this summer.