Russia launched an “intense” counter-offensive in Kursk with North Korean troops

Russia launched a counter-offensive « intense »with the participation of North Korean troops, in its Kursk region, partially occupied by Ukrainian forces, declared this Tuesday, December 17, the commander in chief of the Ukrainian army Oleksandr Syrsky.

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“For three days, the enemy has been carrying out intense offensive operations in the Kursk region, actively using units of the North Korean army” who already have “suffered heavy losses”declared General Syrsky while participating by videoconference in a congress of regional officials, broadcast on Ukrainian television. He assured that Ukrainian troops “held firmly” the lines “destroying enemy personnel and equipment”.

Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) said on Monday that“at least 30 soldiers” North Koreans, fighting alongside the Russian army, were injured or killed Saturday and Sunday in the Russian region of Kursk, bordering Ukraine.

North Korean soldiers in Putin’s ranks

This Tuesday, Ukrainian special forces claimed to have “destroyed 50 soldiers” North Koreans and injured 47 in the Kursk region, in a press release.

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Faced with the invasion of Moscow for almost three years, Ukraine launched a surprise offensive in the Russian region of Kursk at the beginning of August, the most important on Russian territory since the Second World War, and still controls a small part of it.

Several thousand North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia in recent weeks to support the Russian army, according to Westerners. For its part, the Kremlin has each time evaded questions on the subject, not wanting to confirm this information. Pyongyang has neither confirmed nor denied this unprecedented deployment.

The war has reached “another stage”

Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual defense agreement in recent months, which entered into force at the beginning of December according to Russian diplomacy, article 4 of which provides, “immediate military aid” in the event of armed aggression from third countries.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that North Korean troops fighting for Russia were leading “assaults” in the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine still occupies several hundred square kilometers. He then also accused Moscow of having crossed into war “another step”.

Ukraine has warned that Russia has amassed some 50,000 troops, including several thousand North Korean troops, to regain full control of its Kursk region.