Putin responds to Trump's appeal to spare surrounded Ukrainians

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday responded to President Donald Trump's appeal to spare the lives of Ukrainian troops encircled in the Kursk region, saying they would be afforded all rights under Russian and  international law if they surrendered.

"If they surrender, if they put down their arms, they will be guaranteed their due treatment in accordance with international law and the laws of the Russian Federation," Putin said. "I'd like to note that the Ukrainian militants have perpetrated multiple war crimes against the civilian population. the general prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation deems this terrorism."

Trump on Friday said that "THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN TROOPS ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN MILITARY, AND IN A VERY BAD AND VULNERABLE POSITION. I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared." He further said it would be a "horrible massacre" if he did not.

The Ukrainian personnel in question are currently positioned in Russia's Kursk Oblast and are the remnants of an invasion force that Kyiv sent into Muscovite territory late last year. This week saw the collapse of that position following a Russian infiltration through a drained pipeline.

The number of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk Oblast remains unclear and most geo-sourced battle maps do not show a fully encircled position, but rather a situation in which the Russians have fire control over the only remaining escape route. The situation is, nonetheless, extremely precarious for those Ukrainian units and the Russians have accused them of crimes against the civilian populations in the areas they occupied.