Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, revealing that North Korean troops are fighting alongside Russian forces in that area.
“New assaults have occurred in the Kursk operation zones,” Zelenskyy stated during his address on Friday, further noting, “Russia has again deployed North Korean soldiers in conjunction with its own troops.”
Zelenskyy reported that a “significant number” of enemy combatants had been eliminated, although he did not provide specific details, indicating that the losses were in the hundreds.
On Saturday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed to have thwarted a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kursk region.
Additionally, Russia announced on Friday that its forces had taken control of the mining town of Toretsk, marking a recent advancement in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, where Ukrainian defenses are reportedly weakening. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed this claim.
Last month, South Korea’s military expressed concerns that North Korea might be preparing to send more troops to Russia following heavy casualties among its soldiers. North Korea has been supplying substantial amounts of artillery and other conventional weaponry to Russia, and U.S., South Korean, and Ukrainian intelligence indicated that approximately 10,000 to 12,000 North Korean troops were sent last October.
In related news, a Ukrainian strike on the city of Makiivka, located in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, resulted in one death and ten injuries, according to officials installed by Moscow.
Furthermore, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that 36 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight into Saturday across four regions in western and southwestern Russia. While no casualties were reported, Rostov regional Governor Yuri Slyusar mentioned that 14 apartment buildings sustained damage in Rostov-on-Don.
In response, Moscow launched 139 drones into Ukraine overnight, with Ukrainian officials stating that 67 drones were destroyed and 71 were electronically jammed, according to the air force.
