► North Korean soldiers killed and injured in Kursk
The Ukrainian military intelligence services (GUR) affirmed on Monday December 16 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, partially occupied by kyiv forces.
According to this source, these North Koreans were engaged in fighting near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorojba and Martynovka in the Russian region of Kursk, partially occupied since August by Ukrainian forces.
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 Russian army claims the capture of a new locality in the East
The Russian army has claimed the conquest of a new locality in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been retreating for months, facing a more numerous and more armed adversary.
“Due to the resolute action of the units of the Southern group of forces, the village of Yelyzavtivka (…) was liberated”the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The town is located about ten kilometers south of Kourakhové, an industrial city that Moscow has been trying to conquer for weeks.
The day before, he had claimed the capture of the village of Vessely Gaï, south of Kurakhové, and that of Pushkiné, south of Pokrovsk, a mining town in Donbass and an important logistical node for the Ukrainian army.
Despite heavy losses, but with numerical and weapons superiority, the Russians accelerated their advances in Ukraine, particularly in the Donetsk region, where Kurakhové and Pokrovsk are located.
► Zelensky offers grain deliveries to Syria
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that he wanted to provide Syria with grain and other agricultural products on a humanitarian basis, a week after the fall of Moscow's ally, Bashar Al Assad.
“Now we can help Syrians with our wheat, flour and oil: our products that are used globally to ensure food security”he declared in his daily address.
“We are coordinating with our partners and the Syrian side to resolve logistical issues. We will support this region so that stability there becomes a foundation of our movement towards real peace”and Volodymyr Zelensky added.
According to him, these possible deliveries will be part of the program « Grain d’Ukraine »inaugurated in 2022 to provide food aid to the poorest countries.
Even at war, Ukraine, one of the world's leading grain producers, maintains immense production capacities.
