We hope that the leaders will come to an agreement and we will have peace,” said Sergei Kurnosov, the mayor of the town of Rylsk near Russia's front line with Ukraine.

The situation in the Kursk region has worsened lately. The Russian military, attempting to cut off the logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), has made advances toward the critical Sumy-Sudzha highway and to some extent has reduced the width of the Ukrainian forces’ bridgehead,

In areas far from Russia's big cities, more than 120 monuments glorifying Russia's "special military operation," attempt to link the invasion of Ukraine to the Soviet victory in World War II.

Russian forces are attempting to create an active fighting zone in Ukraine's northeastern region of Sumy, across the border from Russia's Kursk region, Ukraine's border guard spokesman said on Monday.

Russia on Sunday announced it had captured territory in Ukraine's Sumy region for the first time since 2022 in a cross-border offensive, as Kyiv struggles to hold onto territory in Russia's neighbouring Kursk region.

The officials said clashes were taking place in the Novenke area. Sumy is located across the border from Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops launched an offensive in August. Russian forces occupied parts of Sumy during the early part of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began more than three years ago.

Ukraine is sending reinforcements to support its forces in Russia's Kursk region, the Ukrainian army's top commander said Monday, coming as the Russian military claims to be speeding up the advance of its counteroffensive in the border region.