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Russian forces attempting to peel back Ukrainian control of parts of the western Russian Kursk region may be close to cutting off vital supply lines to Kyiv's troops across the border, according to new reports.

North Korea has sent more soldiers to Russia and re-deployed several to the frontline in Kursk, Seoul's spy agency told AFP on Thursday.

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Pyongyang will provide more troops to Russia, who will be deployed to the Kursk region, according to South Korea's intelligence agency.

Russian nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor has issued a location licence for the proposed third unit at the Kursk II nuclear power plant, allowing preparatory work to begin for construction.  ;

Ukrainian troops holding positions in Kursk say the North Koreans have reappeared on the battlefield and become even more formidable foes.

Russian investigators have shown journalists the charred and mangled inner compartments of the Kursk where many of the 118-strong crew died. "What happened inside these compartments was hell," said Russia's Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov.

Russian forces have recaptured two settlements in the country's western Kursk region where Ukrainian troops broke across the border and seized a chunk of territory last August, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

A Russian drone strike on a shipping facility here killed one civilian worker early Thursday, just 18 miles from where Ukrainian forces continue to hold territory in the Kremlin’s Kursk region — despite the US pausing military aid and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv.

North Korea has sent more soldiers to Russia and re-deployed several to the frontline in Kursk, Seoul's spy agency told AFP on Thursday.