The Pentagon has stated that over 10,000 North Korean troops were likely in Russia's Kursk region, although neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have acknowledged this.

Ukraine has been hit by a surge in Russian ballistic missile attacks, about a third of which used North Korean weapons that can only fly because they run on Western circuitry, obtained despite sanctions,

According to recent intelligence, Ukrainian forces have engaged in combat with North Korean troops deployed to the Russian western front in Kursk. On Sunday, RBC Ukraine cited statements from Chief of the General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces Anatoliy Barhylevych.

Around 10,900 North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk as part of Russia's airborne unit and marines, with some already participating in battles in the Ukraine war, a South Korean lawmaker said on Wednesday,

The U.S., South Korea and others say North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

"Russia's own troops are not enough" to push Ukraine out of the Russian border region, Kyiv's top commander has said.

Ukraine has now lost more than 40% of the territory of Kursk Oblast, which it has controlled since August, as a result of Russian counterattacks, says a Reuters source in the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In the Kursk region, just north of Ukraine, Russian attacks are so intense that infantry soldiers sometimes tread on the bodies of fallen comrades, Ukrainian military personnel report. "The battle for control of the Kursk region has reached a rarely seen intensity in two and a half years of war,

Moscow's soldiers have 'recently advanced' in the segment under Ukrainian control in Kursk, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).