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Defeat for Putin: Ally hints at Kursk failure

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Stand: December 20, 2024, 6:57 p.m

Von: Babett Gumbrecht

PressSplit

Putin's goal in the Ukraine war of bringing the Kursk border region back under control has not yet been achieved – despite help from North Korea.

Kursk–Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely not achieve his goal of driving Ukraine out of the Kursk region by the end of the year. Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov indicated this during a press conference. Moscow actually wanted to have successfully repelled the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk by October.

But Russian soldiers continue to fight on site together with North Korean troops against the Ukrainian armed forces. Gerasimov said at the press conference that all of the military's tasks would have been completed in 2024, the US newspaper reports Newsweek. However, Russia could not take credit for the expulsion of the Ukrainian armed forces from Kursk.

Kursk offensive raises questions: What goals is Russia pursuing in the Ukraine war?

Gerasimov's statements raise questions about Russia's current priorities in its nearly three-year-long all-out war in Ukraine. Previous statements by Putin gave the impression that recapturing Kursk was high on Moscow's agenda.

A Russian soldier attacks Ukrainian positions in Kursk with a howitzer. © Russian Ministry of Defense/dpa

The main task of the Defense Ministry is to “drive the enemy out of our territory,” Putin said after Ukraine's advance in Kursk, according to the news agency Reuters. Putin is said to have originally set October 1st as the deadline for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Russian territory. Since that date, however, the fighting in the region has intensified significantly. In addition, more than 11,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to the front to support Russian troops.

Ukraine offensive in Kursk: Russia has so far been able to recapture 40 percent

So far, Russian forces have been able to recapture 40 percent of the territory captured by Ukrainian troops in Kursk, reports Newsweek. It remains to be seen whether Russian forces will manage to drive Ukrainian troops out of Kursk before the end of the year, or whether Kiev's troops will be able to advance even further in the Russian region.

The Ukraine War and the Kursk Offensive have so far brought heavy losses to both sides. Putin's forces appear to have suffered at least 700,000 casualties and losses of Russian equipment hit a two-year high in November. North Korea is already complaining about some dead soldiers. At the weekend alone (December 14th/15th), the Ukrainian secret service reported that at least 30 North Korean soldiers fighting on the Russian side had been killed or injured in fighting in Kursk.

On Tuesday (December 17), a US military official in Washington even stated: “According to our most recent estimate, North Korea has suffered several hundred casualties.” The government representative continued that the number of victims he cited included slightly injured soldiers as well as soldiers killed. The information on Russian losses has not been independently confirmed.

Despite high losses: Putin launches “intensive” counteroffensive in Kursk with soldiers from North Korea

Nevertheless, Putin repeatedly launches counteroffensives in the Russian border region of Kursk. “For three days, the enemy has been conducting intensive offensive operations in the Kursk region, actively using units of the North Korean army,” Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a video conference broadcast on Ukrainian television on Tuesday (December 17).

At a meeting with the army leadership on Monday (December 16), Putin said that Russian soldiers “held the strategic initiative along the entire front line firmly in their hands.”

Ukraine launched offensive in the Kursk region of Russia in August

Background: The Ukrainian army invaded the Kursk region in August and occupied several hundred square kilometers there. In the meantime, however, they had to give up a large part of the conquered territory.

Russia, meanwhile, had requested help from North Korea. Moscow and Pyongyang had already increased their military cooperation after Russia's attack on Ukraine in February 2022. In June, the two countries signed a defense pact that came into force this month.

From mid-October there were the first reports of North Korean soldiers being sent to Russia. According to US government estimates, North Korea sent around 10,000 soldiers to reinforce Russian units (bg/dpa).

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