The publication noted that Ukraine’s months-long campaign to seize and hold Russian territory, which began in August 2024, appears to be nearing its end. According to Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with Finland’s Black Bird Group,

Ukraine's General Staff on March 16 confirmed Ukrainian troops' withdrawal from the logistics hub of Sudzha in Russia's Kursk Oblast, days after Moscow claimed its capture. Without confirming the withdrawal with a statement,

The General Staff said that Russia had been reporting an alleged encirclement of Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast "for political purposes and to put pressure on Ukraine and its partners."