Russia has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.

All Ukrainian troops have been forced from parts of Russia’s Kursk region, which Moscow lost control of last year to a surprise Ukrainian incursion, Russia’s top general said in a Kremlin meeting Saturday.

The Kremlin has claimed that all Ukrainian troops have been pushed out of Russia’s Kursk region and for the first time confirmed the role of North Korean soldiers in the fighting. Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported on Saturday to President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine’s forces inside Kursk had been repelled,