Moscow Launches Heavy Counteroffensive in Kursk Region

Russia has launched a “heavy counteroffensive” in the Kursk region in western Russia, deploying North Korean forces to push back Ukrainian troops, according to the Ukrainian army’s General Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi on Tuesday, as reported by AFP.

Syrskyi told local officials: “For three consecutive days, the military has been carrying out intense operations in the Kursk region, actively using units of the North Korean army.”

Intelligence agencies from Ukraine, the U.S., and South Korea reported that North Korea had sent approximately 10,000 troops to Russia to assist its forces.

Syrskyi noted that “the North Korean mercenaries have already suffered significant casualties. Ukrainian defenders are holding their ground, destroying enemy personnel and equipment,” without providing further details.

Ukraine also reported on Monday that its forces killed or injured at least 30 North Korean soldiers in Kursk.

Reports of the new Russian counteroffensive in Kursk coincide with Moscow’s progress in eastern Ukraine. The Russian army announced earlier on Tuesday that it had taken control of another small village in the Donetsk region, about 10 kilometers south of the resource-rich city of Kurakhove, which Moscow is also close to seizing.

Syrskyi described the “most difficult situation” as currently being near Kurakhove and the mining town of Pokrovsk, key targets for Russian control.

“The operational and strategic situation remains challenging” along the 1,170-kilometer front line, Syrskyi added, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that his forces “have the upper hand along the front.”