50,000 Russian & North Korean soldiers ready to attack Ukraine in Kursk, says US

Russia has assembled around 50,000 soldiers, including around 10,000 from North Korea, to attack Ukrainian forces in Kursk province, according to US officials.

In August, Ukraine mounted a stunning incursion into Russia’s border province of Kursk and captured around 1,000 square kilometres of territory and also took the fighting to the neighbouring province of Belgorod. However, these gains have not materialised into strategic gains as Russia has continued to make gains in eastern Ukraine and has chipped away at Ukrainian gains in Kursk and Belgorod.

Days after US officials confirmed that around 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed in forward areas, The New York Times on Sunday reported that a force of 50,000 Russian and North Korean soldiers has been assembled to retake the Ukraine-captured territories in Kursk.

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The US assessment says that the force has been assembled without pulling soldiers deployed in eastern Ukraine, which means that Russia can now wage war on two fronts, according to The Times.

Separately, Ukrainian officials told the newspaper that they expected this force to start the attack “in the coming days”.

North Korean soldiers already fighting Ukrainians, says commander

A Ukrainian field commander has told CNN that North Korean soldiers have already started taking part in direct fights with Ukrainian forces.

Moreover, North Korean personnel are also part of defensive operations in neighbouring Belgorod province and Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories.

Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine in the country’s east.

The commander said that North Korean soldiers are specialised artillerymen and snipers.

“Mostly, the tasks are defined as the second echelon of defense. In the Kursk region, these are direct combat operations. These groups will be directly involved in combat operations in the short term on the territory of Ukraine. They are highly likely to emerge in the occupied territories of Ukraine as well,” said the commander.

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Separately, Ukrainian officials told The Times that Russia had supplied North Korean soldiers with machine guns, sniper rifles, anti-tank missiles, and rocket-propelled grenades. US officials further said that Russia has been training North Korean personnel in artillery fire, basic infantry tactics, and trench clearing.

The newspaper noted that such training suggests that Russia plans to use these soldiers in frontal assaults on Ukraine’s dug-in defences along frontlines.

These developments come as Russia has made a string a victories throughout this year, winning critical cities of Vuhledar and Ukrainsk . Russia has also moved dangerously close to encircling and capturing Pokrovsk, which is said to be the most important city up for grabs for Russia at the moment.

Ukraine's gamble with the incursion of Kursk appears to have failed as while Ukraine diverted some of its best soldiers and equipment away front frontlines to Kursk, Russia did not divert resources and instead continued to press ahead. As Ukraine’s defences were thinned out because of diversion to Kursk, Russian attacks did better than expected.

As Donald Trump is set to take office in January, prospects of a Ukrainian victory, or the end of war favourable to Ukraine are getting dim by the day. Trump has fawned over Russian leader Vladimir Putin for years and has been critical for the US support of Ukraine. He has said that he would end the war on Ukraine within 24 hours and his closest advisors, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, have said Ukraine should cede territory to make peace with Russia.