Ahead of an expected counterattack by Moscow, thousands of North Korean troops have arrived in Kursk, western Russia, which is partially occupied by Ukraine.
Soldiers from an elite unit of the Korean People’s Army sent to the region have not yet begun fighting alongside Russian troops, but officials say they are helping to drive out Ukrainian forces that have captured about 400 square miles of Kursk territory. It was predicted that the United States would cooperate with the anticipated operation aimed at. It was a sudden invasion in August, officials told The New York Times.
The deployment of soldiers to Kursk, with the first soldiers arriving on Wednesday, comes after weeks of warnings from Ukraine and South Korea that North Korean troops were training alongside Russian troops. estimates that up to 12,000 soldiers were involved.
Thousands of North Korean troops appear to have arrived in Russia’s Kursk region this week. KCNA, via KNS/AFP, via Getty Images
A video posted on Telegram shows North Korean troops stationed at a military training range in the village of Sergeyevka in Russia’s Far East region, the Times reported.
"Here we are, boys from North Korea,” a man’s voice can be heard saying in the clip shared by Russian independent media organization Astra, the Times reported.
Another video showed men, described as North Koreans, standing and smoking in standard Russian military uniforms, the Times reported.
A senior Ukrainian official told the Times that as many as 5,000 North Korean troops are expected to be in Kursk by Monday.
The official said it was unclear whether additional troops would be sent to fight in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Friday that North Korean troops could be sent to the Kursk battlefield as early as Sunday, citing sources, warning that Russia's use of North Korean troops in the combat zone was “unlikely”. “This is a clear escalation by Russia.”
While Ukraine continues to defend much of the territory it captured in a daring invasion in August, Russia set its sights on Kiev positions there this month and managed to retake about 150 square miles, the Times reported.
Ukraine estimates that up to 12,000 North Korean troops have trained with Russian troops. KCNA, KNS/AFP, via Getty Images In August, Ukrainian forces captured about 400 square miles of Russian territory in Kursk, but Moscow managed to regain some of the land. AFP (via Getty Images)
But more worryingly for Kiev is that the occupation of the region has failed to achieve its main objective of distracting Russian forces from the fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, where Russian forces have been slowly but steadily advancing. That’s true.
Nevertheless, Ukraine has successfully leveraged the use of drones to inflict devastating pain on Russia and shape the course of the nearly three-year war, which has led to Russian President Vladimir Putin (Wall Street) Journal reported.
Despite Western allies restricting Kiev from using the weapons it has provided to strike deep into Russian territory, Ukraine has access to hundreds of miles of missile storage facilities and strategic fuel reserves within Russia. A long-range attack on the storage facility was successfully conducted using domestically produced unmanned aircraft and drones. missile, the Journal reported.
More news:
The G7 countries have agreed to provide Ukraine with a $50 billion loan package as early as December, with the funds to be backed by proceeds from frozen Russian assets. A Russian drone struck an apartment building in Kiev on Friday night, starting a fire that killed a 14-year-old girl and injured five others, officials said. Meanwhile, a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk hit several homes and a hospital, killing at least five people and injuring 21 others, authorities said. “Russian killers have resumed normal business,” President Zelenskiy said in a social media post on Saturday. “This proves once again that aggression cannot be stopped with words alone, but only with decisive action to protect our nation and its people in this war.”
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