Kyiv says captured 909 Russian troops over Kursk operation

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine said Thursday it had captured more than 900 Russian troops in six months of fighting in the western Russian Kursk region, a shock campaign hailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky as a possible bargaining chip in peace talks.

Kyiv says a key goal of its struggling operation -- the largest by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II -- was to build up reserves of Russian soldiers to exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war.

"During the operation, Ukrainian forces captured 909 Russian servicemen, significantly replenishing the exchange fund," the Ukrainian military said in a statement. 

"This made it possible to bring home hundreds of Ukrainian defenders who had been held in Russian prisons," it added.

Kyiv and Moscow still cooperate on prisoner exchanges despite being at war for nearly three years, and Ukraine has made returning its captured troops a priority.

Last year, the Ukrainian military said its forces had captured more than 700 Russian troops during operations in the Kursk region.

On Wednesday, each side released 150 captured soldiers in the latest exchange.

Thursday marks six months since Ukraine launched its shock incursion into the Russian border region, in an embarrassing setback for the Kremlin.

Ukrainian forces have since lost swathes of Russian territory they intially captured, though they have held onto dozens of settlements where around 2,000 Russian civilians still live.

Zelensky praised his troops fighting there on Thursday, issuing several units with state awards.

"The occupier can and should be beaten on its territory," he said in a social media post.

"The Kursk operation clearly explains the meaning of the principle of 'peace through strength'," he said, referring to a message he has been promoting to secure ongoing military support from Ukraine's western partners.

Kyiv says the ground it holds in Kursk will be an important bargaining chip in any future peace negotiations with Russia, whose forces have been making steady gains across the front line in eastern Ukraine.