President Zelensky sees that region as a critical source of leverage in any future peace talks with the Russians. His aim is to trade parts of the Kursk area for Ukrainian land that Russia has occupied. “We will swap one territory for another,” Zelensky told the Guardian last month.

Russia launched more than a 100 drones into Ukraine just one day after their biggest attack on the country this year. The new attacks come days after the U.S. suspended military aid to Ukraine and halted intelligence sharing.