Reuters and AFP, KYIV
Russian forces took control of two villages in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the Russian Ministry of Defense said yesterday, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Moscow had begun deploying North Korean soldiers to storm Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that in addition to taking control of the villages Veselyi Hai and Pushkino, Russian forces had hit and destroyed four Patriot air defense systems.
Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news conference with European Council President Antonio Costa, not pictured, in Kyiv on Dec. 1.
Photo: Reuters
On Saturday, Zelenskiy said North Korean soldiers had been deployed by Russian forces.
“Today, we already have preliminary data that the Russians have begun to use North Korean soldiers in their assaults. A significant number of them,” he said in his evening address.
“The Russians include them in combined units and use them in operations in the Kursk region,” he said.
He spoke after Russian authorities said their firefighters were battling a blaze in the western Oryol region caused by a drone attack, with Ukraine saying it had hit a major oil terminal.
While so far North Korean soldiers had only been deployed there, they might also be sent to other parts of the front line, Zelenskiy said.
“There are also already noticeable losses in this category,” he added.
Washington and Seoul have accused Pyongyang of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow, after Russia and North Korea signed a landmark defense pact this summer.
The two US foes have strengthened their military ties since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Zelenskiy last month said that 11,000 North Korean troops were in Russia’s western Kursk region and had already sustained losses.
Taken by surprise by the Kursk incursion, Russia has since steadily clawed back territory, halting Ukraine’s advance and rushing reinforcements to the region.
A Ukrainian army source told AFP last month that Kyiv still controlled 800km2 of the Kursk region, down from previous claims that it controlled almost 1,400km2.
Earlier Saturday, Russian officials said firefighters were battling a blaze caused by a drone attack in the western Oryol region.
Ukraine has been targeting fuel depots in Russia in retaliation for Moscow’s strikes wreaking havoc on its power-generation network.
The Ukrainian military on Saturday morning said that its forces had attacked a major oil depot in Stalnoi Kon, about 165km into Russian territory.
One of the largest terminals in Russia, it served Russia’s “military industrial complex” supplying the army, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
