Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the launch of a new offensive in the Kursk region of Russia, revealing the involvement of North Korean troops alongside Russian forces. In his Friday speech, Zelenskyy confirmed that there have been fresh assaults in the Kursk operational area, stating, “Russia has once again deployed North Korean soldiers alongside their troops.”
Zelenskyy reported that a “significant number” of enemy troops have been lost, estimating casualties to be in the hundreds, although he did not provide exact figures. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that they successfully repelled a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kursk region. On Friday, the ministry also claimed its forces captured the mining city of Toretsk in the eastern Donetsk region, where Ukrainian defenses appear to be weakening. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed these claims.
Recent intelligence from South Korea suggested that North Korea might be preparing to send more troops to Russia after suffering heavy losses among its soldiers. North Korea has been supplying Russia with substantial amounts of artillery and conventional weapons, and American, South Korean, and Ukrainian intelligence reported that the North sent between 10,000 and 12,000 troops to Russia last October.
In other developments, one person was killed and ten others were injured on Saturday due to a Ukrainian attack in Makiivka, a town in Eastern Donetsk that remains partially under Ukrainian control, according to officials appointed by Moscow.
Additionally, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that 36 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight in four western and southwestern regions of the country. While there were no casualties reported, local authorities in the Rostov region noted that 14 apartment buildings were damaged in Rostov-on-Don. Ukrainian officials stated that Russia deployed 139 drones to Ukraine during the same time, with 67 drones destroyed and 71 disrupted electronically by Ukrainian air defense forces.
