Russian forces allegedly executed five Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on March 13. Lubinets referred to a video circulating on social media that purportedly shows unarmed Ukrainian soldiers killed after being captured by Russian troops.

Russia claimed Thursday that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russia's Kursk border region, as a senior Kremlin official said that a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire in the three-year war on Ukraine would help Kyiv by giving its military a break.