Zelensky confirms deadly clashes with North Korean forces, while Putin expresses readiness for talks with Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported Thursday that North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region have engaged with Ukrainian forces, leading to casualties on the battlefield.

Zelensky said 11,000 North Korean soldiers are in the region, where Ukraine’s three-month military incursion into Russian territory has stalled, News.Az reports citing CNN .

“Eleven thousand North Korean soldiers or soldiers of the North Korean army are currently present on the territory of the Russian Federation in the border with Ukraine on the north of our country in the Kursk region,” Zelensky told reporters at the European Political Community summit in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday.

“Some of these troops have already taken part in hostilities against the Ukrainian military. Yes, there are already losses, this is a fact.”

He did not specify which side suffered the losses.

News.Az