By The Moscow Times | Created at 2024-12-16 09:25:23 | Updated at 2024-12-16 12:31:11
3 hours ago
Ukraine said early Monday that its troops killed or wounded at least 30 North Korean soldiers deployed in western Russia's Kursk region over the weekend.
Kyiv and Western officials claim that thousands of North Korean soldiers were sent to reinforce Russian forces, including in the Kursk border region where Moscow has tried to claw back territory after a surprise offensive by Ukrainian troops in August.
"Army units from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have suffered significant losses near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba and Martynovka in the Kursk region of Russia," Ukraine's military intelligence said, using North Korea's official name. "At least 30 soldiers were killed or wounded."
Ukrainian authorities said those units were "being replenished with fresh personnel" from North Korea, which Western officials estimate has sent at least 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow in its war.
Russia has begun deploying "a noticeable number" of North Koreans in assaults to push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
Zelensky added that the North Koreans "may be used in other parts of the front line" and that "losses among this group are also already noticeable."
Last week, Russia's Defense Ministry said its troops recaptured several small settlements in the Kursk region. A Ukrainian army source previously told AFP that Kyiv controls 800 square kilometers (309 square miles) of territory there, down from previous claims it controlled around 1,400 square kilometers.
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