Monday, 6 January 2025

Ukraine stages new push in Russia's Kursk region.

 Extract from ABC News

7 hours ago
A shell in mid-air, immediately after being launched by a grenade launcher with a soldier behind it, with a field behind him.

Ukraine has deployed a number of units to hold its captured territory in the Russian region of Kursk. (Reuters: Thomas Peter)

In short:

Ukraine first captured a part of Russia's Kursk region in August last year, after it launched a counteroffensive across the border.

Western allies say Russia has deployed roughly 11,000 North Korean soldiers to the theatre to dislodge the incursion.

Russian military bloggers say a renewed push by Ukrainian forces over the weekend has put pressure on Moscow's forces.

Russian forces are reportedly under pressure amid a fresh push by the Ukrainian military to claim more territory in the partly occupied Kursk region.

Ukraine staged a surprise counteroffensive in early August, sending troops over the Russian border into Kursk. 

They have held a small part of the Russian region ever since.

On Sunday, Russia's defence ministry released a statement saying it had repelled two Ukrainian attacks.

"Artillery and aviation of the North group of [Russian] forces defeated the assault group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," the ministry said.

Russia's influential war bloggers, who support Moscow's war in Ukraine but have often reported critically on failings and setbacks, indicated that the latest Ukrainian assault had put Russian forces on the defensive.

"Despite strong pressure from the enemy, our units are heroically holding the line," the Operativnye Svodki (Operational Reports) channel said.

It said artillery and small-arms battles were taking place, and Ukraine was using Western-armoured vehicles to bring in large numbers of infantry.

Ukrainian officials offered limited information about the offensive.

"Russia is getting what it deserves," Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said.

A column of military vehicles driving past a sign saying there's 108 kilometres to Kursk.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian and North Korean losses in Kursk have been significant. (Reuters: Viacheslav Ratynskyi)

Some analysts have speculated Ukraine's occupation of Russian territory in the Kursk region could be a valuable bargaining chip if peace negotiations are held between the two sides.

Incoming US president Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to broker peace and end the conflict, which has been raging since February 2022.

Zelenskyy says North Korea suffering losses

In recent months, approximately 11,000 North Korean troops have been deployed in the Kursk region to support Moscow's forces, according to Western and Ukrainian intelligence.

Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.

Two men in suits smiling, while holding glasses of wine and looking at each other

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un are forging closer ties, including in the battlefield in Ukraine.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian and North Korean forces had suffered heavy losses.

"In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, in Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroops," Mr Zelenskyy said. 

"This is significant."

On Sunday, Ukraine's air defences shot down 61 out of 103 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, the air force said. 

Russia said it had destroyed five Ukrainian drones over Russian territory.

Reuters/AFP

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