A Ukrainian strike on a Russian command post in Kursk Oblast killed dozens of Russian and North Korean officers, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Associated Press on Feb. 2.
"There was a strong operation by our military — they hit their central command post in the Kursk direction. And they lost key officers of Russia and North Korea," Zelensky said in an interview.
The strike, allegedly conducted by Ukraine's Missile and Artillery Forces on Jan. 31, targeted the command post of Russia's Kursk group of forces in the city of Rylsk.
"It was our military target, a fair one. There was a missile attack from our side and various types of weapons; a complex attack was launched against them," Zelensky added.
The president also claimed that Russia had deployed around 12,000 North Korean troops to Kursk Oblast, of whom more than 4,000 "had been lost."
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
"They lost the combat capability of this first package of North Koreans. I can't call them anything else because it's a package — they don't know where they're going, and they're fighting against a country they've never been to," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast in early August 2024, allegedly seizing about 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russian territory.
While Ukraine has since then lost roughly half of that area, the fighting continues. Kyiv hopes to leverage its presence in Kursk Oblast in potential peace negotiations.
Last fall, North Korean troops were deployed to the area to support Russian forces in countering the Ukrainian incursion.
North Korean troops have not been seen in the areas where Ukraine's Special Operations Forces are fighting for roughly three weeks, the unit's spokesperson, Colonel Oleksandr Kindratenko, told the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 31.
The comment came as undisclosed Ukrainian and U.S. officials told The New York Times that North Korean troops had been pulled from the front lines after suffering heavy casualties.
Martin Fornusek
