Russian forces have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russia's Kursk border region, officials claimed Thursday, as U.S. officials sought the Kremlin's response to a proposed 30-day ceasefire in the three-year war that Ukraine has endorsed.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces were pounding remaining Ukrainian positions after capturing three more settlements, including the town of Sudzha, which is located near the border with Ukraine and lies on a road that Kyiv had used to resupply its forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, ordered top commanders to defeat Ukrainian forces in the western region of Kursk as soon as possible after the United States asked him to consider a 30-day ceasefire proposal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Ukrainian operation is a bid to undermine Russia's stability, slow its advance elsewhere and improve Kyiv's negotiating position. Russia will deliver a "worthy response",

The bulk of Ukrainian forces, including some of Kyiv’s most battle-hardened brigades, have likely withdrawn from Russia’s Kursk region, relocating back into Ukrainian territory, military correspondent David Axe wrote for Forbes on March 11.