Sudzha, populated by some 5,000, was under Kiev's control since August 2024

The Russian military has dislodged remaining Ukrainian forces from the town of Sudzha, the largest settlement taken by Kiev's troops in their incursion into Russia's Kursk Region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has announced.

The nearby settlements of Melovoy and Podol have also been liberated, the ministry said in a short statement on Thursday.

In the last 24 hours the Ukrainian forces fighting in Kursk Region have lost more than 340 servicemen, two infantry fighting vehicles, three armored personnel carriers and dozens of pieces of other hardware, the ministry said.

Ukraine launched an incursion into the Kursk Region on August 6 last year, in the largest attack on internationally recognized Russian territory since the escalation of hostilities between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. The Ukrainian advance, involving some 35,000 troops according to Moscow's estimates, was swiftly halted, and the territory under Kiev's control has steadily shrunk since then.

Over the last week the Russian military has made rapid gains near Sudzha, located 9km from the border with Ukraine and had a population of some 5,000 before the incursion. On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced the liberation of 12 villages in the Kursk Region to the north, east and southeast of the town.

READ MORE: The battle for Kursk: How Russian soldiers crushed Ukrainian defenses in Sudzha

Multiple reports of intense fighting, a dramatic raid through a disused pipeline and a Ukrainian retreat emerged from the town earlier this week. On Wednesday, videos were also published by Telegram channels purporting to show troops unfolding a Russian flag in the town's main square.

According the latest data from the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Kiev's losses in the eight months since the launch of its incursion total over 67,100 servicemen killed or injured, 392 tanks, 316 infantry fighting vehicles, 278 armored personnel carriers, and hundreds of other pieces of equipment, including 13 US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.