Moscow said on Friday that its forces had recaptured another village in their drive to dislodge Ukrainian forces from their last remaining footholds inside Russia's Kursk region. The defence ministry said Russian troops had retaken Goncharovka,

Russia claimed to retake a key town in the area from Ukrainian forces. Ukraine’s top military commander has said that its forces would continue to “hold the line.”

Terrible though it is, Ukraine’s forced withdrawal from Kursk makes peace negotiations with Russia more likely. Indeed had Putin not been able to drive the Ukrainian army out, he is unlikely to have even contemplated peace talks.