Zelensky says Russian and North Korean troops suffered significant losses in Kursk
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Zelensky says there are ongoing ‘fierce battles’ along entire 1,000km-frontline. Russian and North Korean forces suffered “significant” losses in intense fighting in Russia’s southern Kursk region, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Speaking during his nightly video address on Saturday, Mr Zelensky cited reports from top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, saying battles near the village of Makhnovka, close to the Ukrainian border, resulted in the loss of up to a battalion of Russian paratroopers and North Korean infantry troops.
“This is significant,” Mr Zelensky said, without providing further details. A battalion typically comprises several hundred soldiers. However, the claims could not be independently verified. Ukrainian and Western assessments suggest that around 11,000 North Korean troops are stationed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have occupied swathes of territory following a mass cross-border incursion in August.
Mr Zelensky previously reported heavy North Korean losses in the area and accused Russian forces of failing to adequately protect their North Korean counterparts. He also alleged that North Koreans were being executed by their own commanders to prevent surrender.
He said the ongoing “fierce battles” along the entire 1,000km-frontline, describing the situation near the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk as particularly difficult. “Russian forces continue to expend vast numbers of their own personnel in assaults,” he said.
