kyiv, Ukraine — North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in fighting in Russia’s Kursk region and are facing logistical difficulties following Ukrainian attacks, Ukrainian military intelligence said Thursday.
The intelligence agency, known by its acronym GUR, said Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy losses on North Korean units. He added that North Korean troops were also facing supply problems and even shortages of drinking water.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops had been killed and wounded in fighting in the Kursk region. This is Ukraine’s first significant estimate of North Korean casualties, several weeks after kyiv announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help in that war. almost three years.
The casualty disclosure comes as the Biden administration pushed to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into the Kursk region in August, dealing a major blow to Russia’s prestige and forcing it to deploy some of its troops from eastern Ukraine, where it had been waging a slow offensive.
The Russian army managed to recapture part of the territories in the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces, but failed to completely dislodge them.
At the same time, Russia has sought to break Ukrainian resistance by launching waves of strikes with cruise missiles and drones against Ukraine’s power grid and other infrastructure.
The latest attack on Christmas morning involved 78 missiles and 106 drones, hitting electrical installations, Ukraine’s air force said. It claims to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones and jammed 52 other drones.
On Thursday, Russia attacked Ukraine with 31 explosive drones. Twenty were shot down and 11 others failed to reach their targets due to jamming, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
As part of the daily barrage, Russian forces also struck a central market in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region, with a drone, injuring eight people, according to local authorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Thursday that Russia could strike Ukraine again with the new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile that was first used in a Nov. 21 strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Speaking to reporters, Putin said Russia had only a few Oreshnik missiles, but added that it would not hesitate to use them against Ukraine.
“We are in no hurry to use them, because they are powerful weapons intended for certain tasks,” he said. “But we will not rule out their use today or tomorrow if necessary.”
Putin said Russia had started mass production of the new weapon and reaffirmed its intention to deploy some Oreshnik missiles to Belarus, Russia’s neighbor and ally. Authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday that his country could accommodate 10 or more.
Ukraine responded with drone strikes of its own. Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications said the military struck a factory in Kamensk-Shakhtynsky, in southern Russia’s Rostov region, that produces propellant for ballistic missiles.
“This strike is part of a comprehensive campaign aimed at weakening the capabilities of the Russian armed forces to carry out terrorist attacks against Ukrainian civilians,” the statement said.
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