Russia has assembled tens of thousands of troops in its western Kursk region in an effort to push back Ukrainian forces that advanced there this summer, Ukraine’s top military commander said Monday, as Moscow maintains pressure on multiple fronts.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi reported Russian forces are “trying to dislodge our troops and advance deep into the territory we control,” following a New York Times report that Moscow had positioned 50,000 troops in the border region, including North Korean soldiers.
While Syrskyi did not address claims of North Korean military presence, Western countries, South Korea, and Ukraine have all reported North Korean troops operating in Russia. Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied these reports, though President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defense treaty with Pyongyang on Saturday.
The Russian buildup comes as Moscow continues its methodical advance across eastern Ukraine, capturing villages in its campaign to control the industrial Donbas region. Syrskyi maintained that the Ukrainian operation in Kursk, launched in August, successfully diverts Russian forces that could otherwise reinforce the eastern front.
“These tens of thousands of enemies from the best Russian shock units would have stormed our positions in the Pokrovsk, Kurakhiv or Toretsk directions, which would have significantly worsened the situation at the front,” Syrskyi wrote on Telegram.
U.S. assessments cited by the New York Times indicate Russia assembled the Kursk force without withdrawing troops from its eastern offensive operations.
REUTERS
