Ukraine faces heavy losses in Kursk as North Korean troops support Russian offensives, risking further territorial decline.

Something struck a group of Russian troops in Lgov, a town of 21,000 in western Russia’s Kursk Oblast, late Sunday or early Monday. “It’s terrible,” a bystander cried. “The guys are all in the bunker,” they added as the bunker burned.

Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied by daily combat losses and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk.

Ukraine's Air Force on Dec. 29 denied claims spread by Russian media about a Ukrainian pilot surrendering to Russian forces in Kursk Oblast.

Moscow has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian forces battling to hold an enclave in Russia's Kursk region and increased pressure in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine's top army commander said on Tuesday.

Russia lost 1,730 soldiers killed and wounded on 28 December. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook Details: The total combat losses of the Russian forces between 24 February 2022 and 29 December 2024 are estimated to be as follows [figures in parentheses represent the latest losses - ed.

Ukrainian forces are at risk of losing control over the territories gained in the Kursk region, potentially weakening the entire frontline. Ukraine has already lost 40 percent of the land they gained in Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at the weekend that Russia was using North Korean troops in significant numbers for the first time to conduct assaults in Kursk region in southern Russia. On Monday,

It’s the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that Pyongyang had sent between 10,000 and 12,000 soldiers to Russia to help fight in the war.

Ukrainian forces are at risk of losing control over the territories gained in the Kursk region, which could weaken the entire frontline. Ukraine has already lost 40 per cent of the land acquired in Russia.