(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russian and North Korean forces suffered heavy losses in fighting in the Kursk region of southern Russia.
Ukrainian and Western assessments say that about 11,000 North Korean soldiers are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces occupy large areas of territory after carrying out a mass cross-border incursion in August.
In his evening video address, Zelensky cited a report from Ukrainian Supreme Commander Oleksandr Sirsky, saying that the battles took place near the village of Makhnovka, not far from the Ukrainian border.
“In yesterday's and today's battles near only one village, Makhnovka, in the Kursk region, the Russian army lost to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroopers,” Zelensky said. “This is important.”
The president did not provide specific details. A battalion can vary in size but generally consists of several hundred troops.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the president's account.
Last week, Zelensky announced heavy losses for North Korea in the Kursk region, saying that their forces are not protected by Russian forces fighting alongside them.
He said North Koreans take strict measures to avoid capture, and in some cases are executed by their own forces.
In his latest remarks, Zelensky also said that “fierce battles” had broken out along the 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line, with the most difficult situation near the city of Pokrovsk.
He added that Russian forces “continue to use large numbers of their personnel in attacks.”
A Ukrainian army spokesman said earlier that Pokrovsk remained the “hottest” sector on the front lines, as Russian forces launched new attacks near the town in an attempt to bypass it from the south and cut off supply routes to Ukrainian forces.
The city, home to a mine that is the sole supplier of coke to Ukraine's giant steel industry, had a pre-war population of about 60,000. Ukraine estimates that about 11,000 of them remain in the city.
