By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-04 22:11:18 | Updated at 2025-01-06 21:34:14
1 day ago
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russian and North Korean forces suffered heavy losses in fighting in Russia’s southern Kursk region.
Ukrainian and Western assessments say that some 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces occupy swathes of territory after staging a mass cross-border incursion in August.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky quoted a report from top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrsky as saying that the battles had taken place near the village of Makhnovka, not far from the Ukrainian border.
“In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, in Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroops,” Zelensky said. “This is significant.”
The president provided no specific details. A battalion can vary in size but is generally made up of several hundred troops.
Reuters could not independently verify the president’s account.
