Russia’s war of aggression: Zelensky: Russians lost battalion in Kursk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reported heavy losses by Russian units attempting to recapture the Kursk region. “In fighting today and yesterday in the vicinity of the village of Makhnovka in the Kursk region alone, the Russian army lost an infantry battalion of North Korean soldiers and Russian paratroopers,” Zelensky said in his evening video message. The information cannot be independently verified.

According to official information, a battalion of the Russian armed forces has a troop strength of up to 500 men.

In recent weeks, videos have repeatedly emerged of Russian units attempting to storm the area – sometimes reinforced by North Korean soldiers – in the Kursk region. You can see many destroyed Russian armored vehicles and killed soldiers. Military experts explain the seemingly hasty attack attempts as Moscow’s aim to gain as much ground as possible before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in order to have a good starting position in the expected negotiations.

Ukraine occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region last summer.

Two-year-old girl injured in Russian attack

In addition to successes, Zelensky also reported another heavy air attack on the Sumy region. Russian bombs destroyed an apartment building there. A two-year-old girl was among the seven injured, Zelensky said. He also said that the clean-up work in Chernihiv after a rocket strike the day before, in which 40 residential buildings were destroyed or damaged, was over.

In view of the ongoing attacks on civilian targets, he again asked Ukraine’s partners to strengthen anti-aircraft defenses. He announced that this will be discussed at the next meeting with Western allies, which is scheduled to take place next week at the US military base in Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate.