Zelensky says Russian and North Korean troops suffered significant losses in Kursk

Zelensky says there are ongoing ‘fierce battles’ along entire 1,000km-frontline

Russian and North Korean forces suffered “significant” losses in intense fighting in Russia’s southern Kursk region, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Speaking during his nightly video address on Saturday, Mr Zelensky cited reports from top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, saying battles near the village of Makhnovka, close to the Ukrainian border, resulted in the loss of up to a battalion of Russian paratroopers and North Korean infantry troops.

“This is significant,” Mr Zelensky said, without providing further details. A battalion typically comprises several hundred soldiers. However, the claims could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian and Western assessments suggest that around 11,000 North Korean troops are stationed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have occupied swathes of territory following a mass cross-border incursion in August.

Mr Zelensky previously reported heavy North Korean losses in the area and accused Russian forces of failing to adequately protect their North Korean counterparts. He also alleged that North Koreans were being executed by their own commanders to prevent surrender.

He said “fierce battles” along the entire 1,000km front line were ongoing, describing the situation near the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk as particularly difficult. “Russian forces continue to expend vast numbers of their own personnel in assaults,” he said.

A Ukrainian military spokesperson said earlier that Pokrovsk remains the “hottest” frontline sector. Russian troops have reportedly launched fresh attacks in an effort to bypass the city from the south and sever supply lines to Ukrainian defenders.

Pokrovsk, a strategic logistics hub and a key supplier of coking coal for Ukraine’s steel industry, had a pre-war population of 60,000, of whom around 11,000 remain.

Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted 61 of 103 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on Sunday. The air force reported that an additional 42 drones were “lost” due to electronic countermeasures. There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.

Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia temporarily suspended flights at several airports in central Russia on Sunday morning, citing safety concerns. Operations resumed by midday, but the closures followed recent Ukrainian drone strikes in the region, including a 21 December attack on Kazan.

In Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, a Russian guided bomb attack on Saturday injured 10 people, including two children, and caused extensive damage in the village of Svesa. Mr Zelensky shared video footage of rescue operations and described the destruction of an entire block of a residential building. Similar strikes hit the neighboring Kharkiv region, underscoring the ongoing toll of Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.

Both sides have continued to exchange heavy blows as the war grinds into its fourth year.