North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in the fighting in Russia's Kursk region and are facing logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks, Ukrainian military intelligence reported today, as quoted by AP and BTA.
The intelligence agency, known by its acronym GUR, said that Ukrainian strikes near the village of Novoivanovka had inflicted heavy losses on North Korean units. It said that as a result of Ukrainian attacks on the front line, North Korean troops were facing supply problems and even a shortage of drinking water.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean servicemen had been killed or wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region. It was Ukraine's first significant assessment of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kiev announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the nearly three-year war.
In August, Ukrainian forces launched an offensive in the Kursk region, dealing a significant blow to Russia's prestige and forcing it to divert some of its troops from eastern Ukraine.
The Russian army managed to retake part of the territory of the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces, but was unable to completely push them out, the AP said.