Ukraine's military said 21 troops were killed and 40 injured in the operation in the Russian region where it is staging an incursion.

Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) killed 21 North Korean soldiers who attacked Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region of Russia. "It lasted for more than eight hours," reported the SOF. Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) killed 21 and wounded 40 North Korean soldiers who attacked Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region in western

North Korea had sent 11,000 soldiers to assist Russia, many of whom were killed. The Pentagon expects a new batch to arrive at the front, The New York Times reports, citing a senior US Department of Defense official.

A thousand North Korean troops who have been fighting in the Kursk region of Russia have been killed in Vladimir Putin ’s war with Ukraine, officials have said. Western officials have told the BBC that 36 per cent of North Korean forces fighting in Russia had been killed, injured or captured by mid-January.

Russian forces have retaken 63.2% of the territory captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region of western Russia, the Russian defence ministry said on Friday.

Ukraine launched a daring offensive into Russia's Kursk region, hoping to stretch Russia's resources and gain a new bargaining chip.

What’s old is new again as Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds toward its fourth year. During World War II, some armies—the British Army, in particular—bolted metal spans to the top of tank chassis and used the resulting “funnies” to rapidly erect bridges across vehicle-halting gaps on the battlefield.

Russia said on Monday a British man captured fighting on Ukraine's side in the Kursk region faces charges of "terrorism" and acting as a "mercenary", punishable by decades in prison.

Ukraine aimed to challenge the self-imposed red lines set by the Biden administration and other Western leaders regarding its ability to strike back against Russia.

Ukraine’s continued focus on Kursk shows how important Kyiv believes it is to hold on to Russian land, especially if Trump pushes both sides to the negotiating table.

The military did not specify the exact date of the battle but noted that Ukrainian infantry and snipers, equipped with small arms and grenade launchers, held off the North Korean army's advance on Ukrainian positions for over eight hours.

Ukrainian forces described a different kind of enemy, fighting with unfamiliar tactics and little option to retreat.