Ukrainian troops are fighting back in the Kursk oblast where North Korean troops are assisting Moscow’s forces, it has been reported, as a map shows the latest state of play in the Russian border region.
Ukraine made swift gains when it staged its surprise incursion into the region on August 6 overrunning weakly defended Russian positions and taking the city of Sudzha and other territory.
While Vladimir Putin‘s forces were slow to respond, Russian troops have reportedly recaptured a sizeable chunk of territory in recent weeks, assisted over the last week or so by Pyongyang’s soldiers.
However, Kyiv’s forces advanced on the northwest edge of the salient on Friday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest update, noting geolocated footage which showed their push to a windbreak in the north of the town of Novoivanovka where fighting is particularly intense.
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Russian sources said that fighting continues southeast of Korenevo and north of Sudzha. The Russian Ministry of Defense also said its forces repelled a Ukrainian attack in Glushkovsky district west of the main salient.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.
It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the European Political Community summit that 11,000 North Korean troops are involved in combat in the region and taking casualties, without specifying how many.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on November 5 that the first clashes between Ukrainian and North Korean soldiers had taken place. Citing senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials, The New York Times had earlier reported that North Korean troops had been killed in a limited engagement with Russian and Ukrainian forces.
Institute for the Study of War
The presence of a third country in the war started by Putin has sparked international alarm, although there are doubts about the quality and training of the North Korean troops, who are reinforcing lines in Kursk, while Russia’s most experienced units continue advancing in Ukraine’s east.
Putin told the Valdai forum in Sochi, Russia, on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had suffered “colossal” losses in Kursk of more than 30,000 troops—an unsubstantiated figure, and they were under instructions from allies to “hold on at all costs” until the U.S. election.
Donald Trump’s victory has raised questions over what it means for American support for Kyiv, given his criticism of continued military aid and insistence he can strike a quick deal to end the fighting.
However, independent media outlet Verstka cited unnamed Kremlin sources who said that Russia is ready for talks at least on freezing the conflict, but that these would not start until Ukrainian troops are expelled from Russia.
“We will negotiate only from a position of strength,” a Kremlin source told the outlet.