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“Sumy Must Be Ours:” Kursk District Leader Urges Putin to Annex Another Ukrainian Region

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Maryna_kulakova
Maryna Kulakova
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“Sumy Must Be Ours:” Kursk District Leader Urges Putin to Annex Another Ukrainian Region
Operator of the Chechen Akhmat battalion with the call sign "Swallow" stands by a burned out Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle in the village of Kazachya Loknya in the Sudzha district of the Kursk region on March 18, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

Pavel Zolotaryov, head of the Glushkovsky district in Russia’s Kursk region, told Russian leader Vladimir Putin that the Ukrainian city of Sumy should be annexed to Russian territory, according to RIA Novosti on May 21.

“Sumy must be ours,” Zolotaryov said during a meeting between Putin and local municipal leaders in Kursk. He made the comment in response to Putin’s question about how far Ukrainian armed forces should be pushed back from the border.

Zolotaryov argued this was necessary to secure the border districts of the Kursk region.

“We cannot live like we are on a peninsula. We need to expand—at least by adding Sumy. That’s my opinion. And with you as commander-in-chief, we will win,” he added.

Putin reportedly joked in response: “That’s why we chose Aleksandr Yevseyevich [as head of Kursk region]; he wants more of everything too.”

Russian leader Vladimir Putin reportedly visited Russia’s Kursk region, according to the state-controlled news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti.

Putin’s visit was described as his first to the region “since its full liberation.” However, Ukrainian Armed Forces have denied this claim, stating they continue to operate within parts of the Kursk region.

According to Russian media, Putin remained in the city of Kursk. During his visit, he met with volunteers and toured the construction site of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant 2.

Earlier in May, the Ukrainian Air Force successfully struck a Russian drone unit command center in the Tiotkino area of Russia’s Kursk region. The attack resulted in the elimination of up to 20 Russian soldiers and the destruction of their equipment.

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