Zelensky: Russia has 50,000 soldiers in Kursk

2024-11-12 09:12:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his army's incursion into Russia's Kursk region is pushing back 50,000 Russian soldiers.

In his daily address to the nation, Zelensky said the operation is reducing Moscow's capacity to carry out attacks inside Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president has said for some time that this is the main goal of the offensive, despite the skepticism of some Western allies.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, a non-governmental organization based in the United States, Russia had about 11,000 soldiers at Kursk when Ukraine launched its surprise incursion in early August.

However, in the reports of the American daily New York Times, it is suggested that Moscow has managed to position soldiers in Kursk without having to move the soldiers it has in Ukraine.

According to those reports, North Korean soldiers are engaged in Kursk, as part of the Russian counteroffensive.

In his speech, Zelensky said that he was informed on Monday by senior military commanders about the situation in Kursk and the Ukrainian units that are stationed there.

"Our men have blocked 50,000 soldiers of the occupier, who, due to the operation in Kursk, cannot carry out further Russian offensives on our territory," said Zelensky.

The commander of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrskiy, has said separately that, if it were not for the Ukrainian military forces in Kursk, "tens of thousands of enemies would be launched" on Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region, a conflict zone in which fighting has been going on for a decade.

Ukraine and the United States estimate that more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia.

Moscow neither confirms nor denies that military troops from North Korea are in Kursk.

In North Korea, the state's leader, Kim Jong Un, is said to have signed a decree to ratify a defense treaty with Russia.

North Korea and Russia have become increasingly close since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in 2022.

The US has repeatedly accused Pyongyang of sending weapons to Russia, including ballistic missiles and rocket launchers.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has suggested that Pyongyang is receiving military technology and other military support from Moscow, helping it evade sanctions.