Zelenskyy says North Korean soldiers are 'fleeing' Russia's Kursk frontline
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that North Korean soldiers are "fleeing" the frontline in Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv launched an incursion just six months ago, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
“The Russians suffer really large losses there. They are greatly underestimating them. Their Koreans (North Korean troops) are fleeing, we see it,” Zelenskyy told journalists late Wednesday following talks with visiting UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Kyiv.
Speaking about Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region, which began last August, Zelenskyy defined the "operation" as a "very important step" that may become important once the conflict in the country reaches the diplomatic stage.
"I do not like to throw around words like ‘historical’. After all, Ukraine’s whole life and struggle is certainly a historical path, so I won’t be throwing around this word regarding the operation. But it was definitely very important," he said.
Zelenskyy further said that Ukrainian forces in Kursk are "keeping the situation stable, and will continue to do so," highlighting several important targets in the Kursk region were hit using long-range weapons.
"These are very serious steps. They are important. And I think they won’t be able to push us out of that territory anytime soon, and this, like a magnet, keeps 60,000 of their soldiers in this area today," Zelenskyy went on to say.
He added that the ongoing incursion in the Kursk region enabled them to stabilize the situation in Ukraine's neighboring Kharkiv region, where Russia has claimed advances amid its ongoing offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv's incursion into the Kursk region began on the night of Aug. 5-6, when Ukrainian forces entered near the town of Sudzha, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the border.
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the incursion as a “large-scale provocation” and an act of “indiscriminate shooting,” characterizing it as a “terrorist attack.”
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later confirmed that the incursion aimed to create a “buffer zone” to protect against cross-border attacks from Russia.
Ukrainian and Western reports claim the presence of about 12,000 North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region.
Russia and North Korea have boosted their military ties in recent years, but have not confirmed if Pyongyang's forces are fighting for Moscow.
A report on Tuesday by the Seoul-based Yonhap News agency, citing South Korea's National Intelligence Service, said that North Korean troops deployed in Russia appear to have been absent from the frontline in Kursk since mid-January.
The Russian and North Korean officials have yet to respond to Zelenskyy's latest remarks.
Similar news
