Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that a battalion-sized unit of North Korean troops deployed to the Russian Kursk front was annihilated within 48 hours.
In his nightly address on Saturday, Zelenskyy stated that Russian forces, including a battalion of North Korean infantry and Russian paratroopers, were decimated in a battle near the village of Makhnovka in Kursk Oblast. While the exact size of a North Korean battalion remains unclear, Reuters noted that such units typically consist of several hundred troops.
Zelenskyy asserted that North Korean casualties had surpassed 3,000 last month. Both Russia and North Korea have remained tight-lipped about troop deployment details and casualty figures. Intelligence reports suggest that North Korea dispatched approximately 11,000 troops to the Kursk region last fall. This figure has been corroborated by sources including Zelenskyy, the U.S. Department of Defense, and South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that Ukraine had attempted to strike the border area of Belgorod using U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles. Russian officials claim all incoming missiles were successfully intercepted.
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