Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on January 4th that the Russian and Korean joint forces have suffered heavy losses in the Kursk region recently. According to a news release from the Ukrainian government, Zelensky quoted a report from the Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, during a nighttime address. The report mentioned that in the battles on January 3rd and 4th, Russian forces suffered the loss of an entire battalion near the village of Makhnovka.
This news came as a significant blow, with Zelensky revealing, “In the battles of today and yesterday, in the village of Makhnovka in the Kursk region, the Russian military lost one infantry battalion, including Korean soldiers and Russian paratroopers.” The exact details of the casualties were not disclosed, but typically a battalion consists of several hundred troops.
Zelensky also highlighted the ongoing attacks by Russian forces in areas like Sumy, Ukraine, resulting in extensive damage to residential buildings and casualties among the civilian population. He expressed gratitude to every Ukrainian unit defending the country’s territory and eliminating the occupiers.
In a nighttime address on December 27th last year, Zelensky urged China to exert influence over North Korea to prevent their military support to Russia. He emphasized that North Korean soldiers aiding Russia had suffered severe casualties. “They (referring to North Korean soldiers) have suffered a lot, a lot. We see that the Russian military and North Korean supervisors are not at all concerned about their survival.”
He detailed reports of North Korean soldiers being sent by Russian forces on unprotected attack missions, sometimes even being killed by their own people.
Zelensky had previously mentioned that over 3,000 North Korean soldiers aiding Russia had died or been wounded. He warned of the possibility of North Korea sending more personnel and weapons to support Russia, criticizing world leaders for their inaction in curbing the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
According to Kyiv Independent reports, Russia has deployed approximately 12,000 North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. The first confirmed clashes between Ukrainian and North Korean forces occurred on November 5th last year.