The Ukrainian army revealed this Tuesday a intense Russian offensive in the Kursk regionwhich supposedly involves north korean troopswhile the president Volodimir Zelensky made a urgent call to the international community to strengthen military support in the midst of a conflict that continues to escalate.
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Sirskireported that for three days Russia is developing offensive operations in the Kursk border regionsignificantly using North Korean army units. According to Sirski, these troops have already suffered “big losses” during the fighting.
The Ukrainian Army’s Special Operations Forces later said they had eliminated 50 soldiers sent by Kim Jong-un in three days.
The intelligence agencies of Ukraine, the United States and South Korea agree that North Korea has deployed approximately 10,000 troops on Russian territory to support military operations. The Kursk region, which has been partially occupied by Ukrainian forces since last August, has become a new scene of confrontation in the war started by Russia in February 2022.
Meanwhile, Zelensky on Tuesday pleaded with other countries to send “urgently” more help to Ukrainian troops, who are fighting better-equipped Russian forces in various parts of the war front.
On the eve of a crucial meeting in Brussels, the Ukrainian president said international leaders would discuss “how to urgently strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield, politically and geopolitically.”
The current military context shows a particularly complex situation on the eastern front. According to Sirski, the most critical areas are concentrated around Kurakhov and the mining town of Pokrovsktwo strategic positions that Russia seeks to control. In fact, Moscow’s army has already reported taking a small town in Donetsk, ten kilometers south of Kurakhove.
In parallel to the fighting, Ukraine has revealed important counterintelligence actions. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) dismantled a Russian spy network composed of 12 agents and informants who were trying locate the location of the new F-16 fighter jets supplied by the West.
The agents, whose operation covered five regions of the country, They sought to identify secret military airfields where these fighters are located. In addition, they carried out reconnaissance work on the positions of anti-aircraft defense systems and tried to locate companies producing electronic warfare equipment to counter drones.
The SBU managed to arrest four of these agentswho could face sentences ranging from eight years to life in prison if convicted. The Location of the F-16 is considered top secret informationeven more so after one of these planes crashed in August, causing the death of the pilot.
The war is also generating internal tensions in the Ukrainian armed forces. The authorities initiated criminal proceedings against brigade commanders after allegations of mistreatment of troops. The Attorney General’s Office investigates cases of physical violence, extortion and abuse of disciplinary power.
One case that has generated particular outrage involves the platoon commander Vladyslav Pastukhfrom the 211th brigade, accused of beating drunk soldiers and extorting them.
The respected news website Ukrainska Pravda had published a report on Tuesday stating that Pastukh abused soldiers without facing consequencesgiven that his father was the brigade’s chief of staff.
The report included a photograph of a man posing in front of a soldier, his face blurred, tied to a wooden cross.
Ukrainian human rights defender Dmytro Lubinetsdescribed these events as “a shameful phenomenon” that should not exist in the armed forces.
The military also denounced on social media corruption and alcoholism within the army, which is fighting against Russian forces in a war that has lasted almost three years.
