During his visit to the Kursk region, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a sharp statement against the Ukrainian armed forces, stating that "they would take second place even in a competition of idiots, because they are idiots".
His words were aimed at what he called neo-Nazi manifestations in the ranks of the Ukrainian army. His words were quoted by TASS.
The statement was made in the context of discussing the creation of a federal museum dedicated to the heroism of the residents and defenders of the Kursk region during the hostilities. The idea was proposed by acting governor Alexander Khinshtein and immediately accepted by the president: "We will do it, good suggestion."
By creating such a museum, the Russian leadership aims to reinforce the version of resistance against "enemy invasion" and consolidate the public narrative of events in the region, while simultaneously intensifying rhetoric against Kiev.
In late April, Russia said it had pushed Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, ending the largest invasion of Russian territory since World War II.
On August 6 - a little more than two years after the Russian invasion in 2022 - Ukraine launched its boldest attack yet, breaching the Russian border in the Kursk region with the help of drones and heavy Western weaponry.
At the height of the offensive, Ukrainian forces captured nearly 1,400 square kilometers of Kursk.