(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Saturday that Russian and North Korean forces had suffered heavy losses in preventing in Russia’s southern Kursk area.
Ukrainian and Western assessments say round 11,000 North Korean troopers are deployed within the Kursk area, the place Ukrainian forces occupy swathes of territory after staging a mass cross-border incursion in August.
In his nightly video handle, Zelenskiy cited a report by Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi that battles had taken place close to the village of Makhnovka, not removed from the Ukrainian border.
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“In yesterday and right now’s battles close to only one village, Makhnovka, within the Kursk area, the Russian military misplaced as much as a battalion of North Korean infantry troopers and Russian paratroopers,” Zelenskiy stated. “This is important.”
The president didn’t present particular particulars. A battalion can differ in measurement however typically consists of a number of hundred troopers.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the president’s account.
Zelenskiy final week reported heavy North Korean losses within the Kursk area, saying their forces weren’t protected by Russian forces alongside them.
He stated the North Koreans are taking excessive measures to keep away from being taken prisoner and in some instances have been executed by their very own forces.
In his newest remarks, Zelenskiy additionally stated “fierce battles” raged alongside your complete 1,000 km (620 mile) lengthy entrance line, with essentially the most tough scenario close to town of Pokrovsk.
Russian forces, he stated, “proceed to make use of giant numbers of their personnel in assaults.”
A Ukrainian navy spokesman had earlier stated that Pokrovsk stays the “hottest” sector on the entrance line, with Russian troops launching new assaults close to town in an try to outflank it from the south and minimize provide routes to Ukrainian troops.
The metropolis, dwelling to a mine that’s the sole provider of coking coal to Ukraine’s once-gigantic metal trade, had a pre-war inhabitants of about 60,000 individuals. Ukraine estimates that round 11,000 of them stay within the metropolis.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Sandra Maler)
