According to Ukraine, 3,000 North Korean soldiers were killed in Russia’s Kursk region.
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The Ukrainian army has taken a North Korean soldier prisoner.
The soldier captured alive on December 26 reportedly died from his injuries.
The information came from Seoul’s intelligence services at a time when North Korean troops incorporated into the Russian army were suffering heavy losses.
According to Ukrainian intelligence services, around 12,000 North Korean soldiers are engaged in the Kursk region where the Ukrainian army has controlled several hundred square kilometers since August.
North Korean troops are reportedly facing supply problems and shortages of drinking water.
Volodymyr Zelensky assures that 3,000 North Korean soldiers were killed.
It is Ukraine’s first significant estimate of North Korean losses, several weeks after Kyiv announced that Pyongyang had sent between 10,000 and 12,000 troops to Russia to participate in the war.
Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into the Kursk region in August, dealing a significant blow to Russia’s prestige and forcing it to deploy some of its troops from eastern Ukraine, where it had been waging a slow-moving offensive .
The Russian army managed to recapture part of the territory in the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces, but failed to completely dislodge them.
The announcement of the losses came as the Biden administration pushed to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
In his evening address on Thursday, Mr. Zelensky confirmed that Washington was increasing military aid to Kyiv, but did not give a figure.
“It is very important that the United States currently increases its supplies. This is necessary to balance the situation. I am grateful to our partners. The pace of supplies must become such that it disrupts the rhythm of Russian assaults. We have need greater military force. And strong positions for diplomacy. Every unit, every brigade that ensures this brings us closer to the possibility of normal peace,” he said.
Mr. Trump has long criticized the amount of military aid sent by the United States to Ukraine and this stance has raised fears among Ukraine and its allies that he will end the flow of funding when he will enter the White House.
Strikes with Oreshnik
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin has threatened Russia to strike Ukraine again with its new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile, which was first used in an attack on Dnipro on November 21.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Putin said Russia only had a few Oreshnik missiles, but added it would not hesitate to use them against Ukraine.
ADVERTISEMENT“We are in no hurry to use them, because they are powerful weapons intended for certain tasks,” he said. “But we do not rule out using them today or tomorrow if it proves necessary.
Putin said Russia had started mass production of the new weapon and reaffirmed its intention to deploy some Oreshnik missiles in Belarus, a Russian ally.
Mr. Putin also said that Russia was working to end the conflict in Ukraine and that Slovakia had offered itself as a platform for possible peace talks.
