North Korean soldiers 'brought in again' to fight in Kursk Oblast, Zelensky says

North Korean soldiers were "brought in again" by Russia to the embattled Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Feb. 7.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi briefed Zelensky about new Russian attacks in Kursk Oblast, a day after Russian media claimed Ukraine had launched a new offensive in the Russian region.

"A significant number of occupiers have been eliminated, we are talking hundreds of Russian and North Korean servicemen," the president said.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.

The New York Times reported on Jan. 30 that North Korean troops had been pulled from the front, and a Special Operations Forces spokesperson confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine's special forces had not faced Pyongyang's soldiers for three weeks.

Ukraine's spy chief Kyrylo Budanov denied these reports. He said that the number of North Korean troops has decreased, and Ukraine is trying to establish why.

"A total of 60,000 Russian troops in Kursk Oblast are 60,000 that have not replenished the already significant occupier's forces in Pokrovsk and other sectors in our Donetsk Oblast," Zelensky said.

As of early February, about 8,000 North Korean soldiers were fighting against Ukraine in Kursk Oblast, according to Budanov.

Up to 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed in the Russian region last fall to support Russian forces in countering a Ukrainian incursion launched six months ago, on Aug. 6 on 2024.

At least 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and another 2,700 wounded fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) claimed in mid-January.

Kyiv open to talks with South Korea on captured North Korean soldiers, ambassador says

Kyiv is open to negotiating with South Korea over the possible transfer of captured North Korean soldiers, Ukrainian Ambassador to Seoul Dmytro Ponomarenko said in an interview with The Korea Times published on Feb. 5.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova