Vladimir Putin visits war-torn city as Russia launches new deadly assault on Ukraine

visited the Russian city of Kursk for the first time since his troops pushed Ukrainian forces from the region. The Kremlin said the Russian president met with volunteer organisations and visited the Kursk-II nuclear power plant on Tuesday. State television broadcast the Russian president speaking , including acting governor Alexander Khinshtein.

Putin was accompanied by Kremlin first deputy chief of staff Sergei Kiriyenko. This comes after Russia claimed in late April to have ejected all Ukrainian troops from Kursk, marking an end to the biggest incursion into Russian territory since World War II. Kyiv's forces launched a bold attack into through the Russian border and into Kursk in August last year, two years after the full-scale invasion began. They controlled 540 square miles of Kursk territory .

This comes as Russia shot down 159 drones over its territory, its defence ministry said on Wednesday. Most of them flew over the west, but at least six came down over Moscow.

A Russian missile attack also killed six soldiers and injured 10 during training in Ukraine's Sumy region, its national guard said. The unit commander has been suspended pending an internal investigation.

Putin has been increasingly urged to come to the negotiating table in recent weeks, particularly by Donald Trump, who held a phone on Monday.

The US president vowed to answer Putin's calls "anytime", according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.

Ushakov shared recorded comments with journalists, which revealed the two leaders spoke about the war in Ukraine and the two countries' relationship, but did not set out a timeline for a ceasefire.

They also included a pledge made by up its efforts to bring the Russian president to the negotiating table.

He reportedly said: "Vladimir, you can pick up the phone anytime, and I'll be happy to answer and happy to talk to you."

The Republican also said Russia would become one of the US's most important partners once the war in Ukraine is "resolved to some degree", according to Ushakov.

The presidential aide added that neither president "wanted to end" the "rare" phone call - the third one the pair have had.

He said: "I'll tell you, it's rare to have conversations of such length, where both presidents - neither of them - wanted to end it, didn't want, if I can put it this way, to hang up."