KYIV: Ukraine said on Monday that North Korean units fighting for Russia sustained losses of at least 30 soldiers killed or wounded around several villages on the front in Russia's Kursk region over the weekend. The Ukrainian military spy agency's statement came after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia was using North Korean troops in significant numbers for the first time to conduct assaults in Kursk, a Russian region where Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion in August. The statement is the first time Kyiv has claimed North Korean losses on this scale and in some detail. It said the casualties occurred around the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba and Martynovka in the Kursk region. It provided no evidence. It was not possible to independently verify the figures.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the Ukrainian assertion, referring the question to the Russian Defence Ministry which has made no comment on the subject. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Koreans on its side. Pyongyang initially dismissed reports about the troop deployment as "fake news", but a North Korean official has said any such deployment would be lawful. "Due to the losses, the assault groups are being replenished with fresh personnel, in particular from the 94th separate brigade of the DPRK army, to continue active combat operations in Kursk region," the Ukrainian agency wrote.
Kyiv first said North Korean forces turned up in Russia's Kursk region in October and later reported unspecified clashes and casualties. It estimates there are 11,000 North Koreans in total, adding to a force of tens of thousands of Russians. Ukraine, nearly a fifth of which is controlled by Moscow's forces, has carved out an enclave in the Kursk region which its troops have been battling to hold as a potential bargaining chip for any potential peace negotiations.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the large number of men signing up for the Russian military voluntarily was turning the tide of the Ukraine war in Moscow's favour and said he hoped his army would keep advancing. Putin, who said Russian forces had pushed the Ukrainian army out of nearly 200 settlements this year and held the initiative along the entire frontline, made the comments in a speech at the Defence Ministry at a time when his army is advancing at the fastest pace since 2022, according to open source maps.
"I would like to point out at once that the past year was a landmark year in achieving the goals of the special military operation (in Ukraine)," Putin told top generals. "Russian troops have a firm grip on the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact. This year alone, 189 population centres have been liberated," he said. He said roughly 430,000 Russians had signed army contracts this year, up from roughly 300,000 the year before, a factor he said had huge importance for Russia's war effort. "This flow of volunteers is not ending. And thanks to this...we are seeing a turning point on the frontline," said Putin. Andrei Belousov, Putin's defence minister, told the same audience that Russian troops had pushed Ukrainian forces out of almost 4,500 square kilometres of territory this year and were advancing an average 30 square kilometres per day. — Reuters
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