According to Ukrainian officials, the offensive will begin in the near future. Ukraine launched a surprise offensive in Russia's Kursk region in August and held its ground, although Russian forces managed to retake about half of the territory.
Russia has amassed 50,000 troops without withdrawing its troops from the eastern front, according to a new US estimate. The eastern part of Ukraine remains a priority for Russia, and it has made significant gains in the southern part of Donetsk Oblast, as well as near Toretsk, Chasov Yar and Kupyansk.
Although it has managed to retake parts of Kursk Oblast with missile strikes and artillery fire, Russia has yet to launch a major offensive there, a US official told the New York Times.
The new forces come as Russia has suffered its heaviest losses in the past month, and some experts say North Korean troops may be replacing wounded and killed Russian soldiers.
US Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Anthony Radakin claimed that Russia was losing an average of 1,500 soldiers every day in October.
North Korean troops, who arrived in Russia last month, are likely to be directly involved in the operation in the Kursk region. According to a Ukrainian official representative, the troops were divided into assault and support units.
Russia will have to answer for the war crimes committed in Ukraine and pay for the destruction caused, regardless of a possible future peace agreement, said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, quoted by AFP and BTA.
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"Peace, in order to be peace and not just a cease-fire, must be just and lasting," stressed Borrell, the first high-ranking European leader to visit Ukraine since the election of Donald Trump as US president. During his election campaign, he promised a quick end to the war, leading Ukrainians to fear that they would be forced to give in to Russia's territorial claims.
"This is a warning to those who say this war must end, so we might as well end it as quickly as possible, no matter what,'' Borel added during a visit to Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region. "What matters is that the war ends in a way where there is responsibility, not just economic recovery, but everyone is responsible" for his actions, he added, after visiting the basement of a village school in Yachydne, where 300 Ukrainian civilians were held for a month in brutal conditions by Russian troops after the 2022 invasion.
According to the Kyiv authorities, 11 people died during this captivity, which ended when the Russian forces had to withdraw.
Borel also offered Russian state assets worth about 300 billion frozen by the West. dollars to be used to rebuild Ukraine after the war. "They could be used to pay those bills and compensate the people who suffered for the destruction caused by the Russian invasion," he said.
During his election campaign, US President-elect Donald Trump questioned the continuation of US aid to Ukraine and said he could end the war "in 24 hours", without specifying how. His recent victory has raised concerns in Ukraine and Europe that Kiev may be pressured to make concessions to Russia to secure a quick peace deal.
According to Ukrainian authorities, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, about 140,000 war crimes files have been opened. Arrest warrants have been issued against President Vladimir Putin and several high-ranking Russian military personnel by the International Criminal Court, AFP recalls.
In Ukraine, army sergeants have already been tried in absentia for separate acts, but bringing those responsible to justice remains difficult. For Kiev, the issue of prosecuting the crimes Russia is accused of is an integral part of any peace agreement.
Efforts to create an international tribunal have not been successful, however, and for now international partners such as the EU and the US are mainly helping the Ukrainians gather evidence and conduct their own investigations, AFP recalls.