ISTANBUL

Russian President Vladimir Putin tasked his country’s forces on Wednesday to push Ukraine’s military from the Kursk region “in the shortest possible time.”

“Indeed, our task in the near future is to finally defeat the enemy, who has dug in on the territory of the Kursk region and is conducting military operations here, in the shortest possible time,” Putin said at a meeting at a command post in the border region.

The remarks come as the Russian president embarked on a surprise visit to the border region wearing military camouflage, marking his first visit to the location since Ukraine’s incursion, which Kyiv launched in August.

The incursion began the night of Aug. 5 - 6, when Ukrainian forces entered near the town of Sudzha, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the border.

The Russian president said Moscow needs to think about creating a security zone along its border in the future.

Describing Ukrainian soldiers in the region as "terrorists," Putin said foreigners fighting in Ukraine's military are not subject to the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Putin urged those attending the meeting to convey gratitude to all personnel for their work. "I very much hope that all combat missions facing our units will certainly be fulfilled and the territory of the Kursk region will be completely liberated from the enemy in the near future," he said.

Russia's military actions in Kursk

Before Putin's address, Valery Gerasimov, the army's chief of the General Staff, briefed the Russian president about Moscow's military actions in the region.

Alleging more than 1,100 square kilometers (425 square miles) of land were re-taken from Ukrainian control during military actions in Kursk, Gerasimov claimed that Kyiv lost more than 67,000 soldiers since the start of the incursion.

"The Kyiv regime aimed to create a so-called strategic bridgehead in the Kursk region, to use it later as a bargaining chip in possible negotiations with Russia," said Gerasimov.

He accused Kyiv of trying to use the incursion into Kursk to halt Moscow's advances in eastern Ukraine and divert manpower from the frontline in the Donbas region.

"In the last five days alone, the Kursk group of troops has liberated 24 populated areas and 259 square kilometers of Kursk region territory in all directions," he added.

Gerasimov also claimed that Russian soldiers, in some areas, crossed into Ukraine and entered the northeastern Sumy region.

Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi announced earlier that active fighting continued in the Kursk region, particularly in Sudzha and surrounding areas.