Forces push into Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region

MOSCOW: Russia said on Sunday that its troops had taken the village of Basivka in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, and were battering Ukrainian forces at a host of settlements in the area.

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More than two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv sent thousands of troops over the border into Russia's Kursk region in a move though a Russian offensive over recent months has pushed most of Ukrainian forces out of Kursk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly suggested that Russian forces are carving out a buffer zone along the border.

Russia's defence ministry said that it had taken the village of Basivka, just over the border from Sumha, and had struck Ukrainian forces at 12 other points in the Sumy region.