KURSK, May 21. /TASS/. Ukrainian troops demonstrated brutal neo-Nazi behavior as they destroyed WWII-era monuments in occupied areas in Russia, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with volunteers during his visit to the Kursk Region.
A participant in the meeting recounted how Ukrainian militants attack war memorials and intensify strikes with drones whenever they track volunteers nearby, he said.
"You can understand who we are fighting against, if they directly target monuments dating back to the World War II era," Putin reacted. "This gives us every reason to say that these people support the ideology of neo-Nazism," he stated.
Ukraine launched a large-scale incursion into Russia’s borderline region of Kursk on August 6, 2024. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the enemy lost over 76,500 troops in fighting in the Kursk area.
The operation to clear the area of Ukrainian troops lasted 264 days. On April 26, 2025, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov reported to the president that the Kursk Region had been liberated.