Russia’s top military commander said Saturday that Ukrainian forces have been nearly entirely pushed out of the western Kursk region, following months of fighting after a surprise cross-border operation by Kyiv.

General Valery Gerasimov informed President Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting that Russian troops have regained control of approximately 99.5% of the territory previously held by Ukrainian units—an area spanning about 1,260 square kilometers.

The military campaign to retake Kursk began last August, after Ukrainian forces briefly advanced into the region in an effort that reportedly aimed to increase Kyiv’s leverage in potential future negotiations.

According to Gerasimov, Ukrainian troops are now confined to a small area—just 3 square kilometers—near the villages of Oleshnya and Gornal, close to the Russia-Ukraine border. Russia’s Defense Ministry stated on Saturday that Oleshnya has since been recaptured.

Russian forces have also launched new offensives into Ukraine’s Sumy region, neighboring Kursk, while simultaneously repelling renewed Ukrainian attacks in the Belgorod region to the south.

The update from the battlefield came shortly before President Putin declared a unilateral Easter ceasefire in Ukraine.