Russia launched ‘intensive offensive’ in Kursk with North Korean troops

AFP | Kyiv, Ukraine
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Russia has deployed North Korean troops as part of an “intensive offensive” in the western Kursk region, aiming to push out Ukrainian forces, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Tuesday.

Kyiv has controlled part of the border region since August, when it launched a surprise cross-border incursion to capture Russian territory.

“For three days in a row, the enemy has been conducting intensive offensive operations in the Kursk region, actively using North Korean army units,” Syrsky said in a statement to local officials.

Intelligence agencies from Ukraine, the United States, and South Korea have confirmed that Pyongyang has sent around 10,000 troops to fight alongside the Russian army.

“North Korean mercenaries have already suffered heavy losses. The Ukrainian defenders are steadfastly holding the defense, destroying enemy personnel and equipment,” Syrsky said, though he did not provide further details.

Ukraine reported on Monday that at least 30 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded in the Kursk region. Western estimates suggest that 10,000 North Korean forces have been deployed to support the Russian army.

The reports of a fresh Russian counter-offensive in Kursk come as Moscow’s forces advance in eastern Ukraine. Russia's army claimed on Tuesday to have captured another small village in the eastern Donetsk region, about 10 kilometers (six miles) south of the resource-rich hub of Kurakhove, which Moscow is also close to capturing.

Syrsky stated that the “most difficult situation” is currently around Kurakhove and the mining city of Pokrovsk—two areas Russia is targeting.

He added that the “operational and strategic situation remains difficult” along the 1,170-kilometer (730-mile) front line, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russian troops had seized “the strategic initiative” across the front.