Kyiv [Ukraine], January 5: In the midst of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Russian army suffered heavy losses in the last two days due to fighting near the village of Makhnovka in the Kursk region. The Russian army lost up to a battalion of infantry, including North Korean soldiers.

“The Commander-in-Chief gave a thorough briefing on the current operations at the front, highlighting the fierce battles along the entire front line, with the most intense fighting near Pokrovsk,” Zelenskyy said in his evening speech on Saturday.

Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi provided me with a thorough briefing on our front-line operations today. All along the front line, fierce fighting is still going on, with the area closest to Pokrovsk being the fiercest. An absurd amount of its citizens are still being wasted by the occupier in attacks. According to Ukraine’s President Office, Zelenskyy remarked, “And I thank all of our units, all of our brigades defending Ukrainian positions and eliminating the occupier.”

“The Commander-in-Chief also provided an update on the situation in the Kursk region,” he said. In particular, the Russian army fell to a battalion of infantry, which included Russian paratroopers and North Korean troops, in combat that took place today and yesterday close to a single settlement, Makhnovka in the Kursk area. And that is observable.

“Rescue operations are underway in Svesa, a town in the Sumy region, following Russian bomb strikes,” the Ukrainian president remarked in reference to the Russian strikes in the Sumy and Kharkiv region. One of the residential buildings was struck. Apartments from the first to the fifth floors made up the whole portion that was destroyed. Additionally, nearby structures sustained damage. The lives of regular Ukrainian families are being attacked by Russia once again. Seven individuals were hurt, one of them was a girl, age two. She’s in the hospital right now. Every victim is getting the help they need.

“Guided aerial bombs were also used today to strike other villages in our Sumy region, Myropillia and Vilna Sloboda, as well as the Kharkiv region,” he said. Meanwhile, a missile attack in Chernihiv has resulted in the completion of the rescue effort there. Over forty structures suffered damage or were completely demolished. Unfortunately, one person died in Chernihiv. My sympathies.

Between 11,000 and 12,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to be in Russia, according to estimates from US, Ukrainian, and South Korean intelligence. Some of these soldiers have already participated in combat operations alongside Russian forces to help retake areas of Kursk that were captured during the Ukrainian offensive in August.

According to CNN, the Ukrainian military said earlier on December 22, 2024, that North Korean troops serving for Russia were given fake military credentials with Russian identities and birthplaces.

The announcement coincided with allegations from Ukraine that Russia is attempting to conceal the existence of foreign combatants in the war.

Ukraine’s special forces claimed in a statement to have captured the papers of three North Korean troops and killed them in the Kursk area of Russia. According to a CNN report, the statement claimed that their military identification documents “lack all the stamps and photos, the patronymic names are given in the Russian manner, and the place of birth is signed as the Republic of Tuva,” which is a region of southern Siberia that borders Mongolia.