The Kursk Offensive Operation of the Defense Forces began on August 6, 2024. Since its beginning, the enemyʼs total losses have amounted to about 40 thousand people, of which more than 16 thousand were killed.
This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
They noted that fighting had been moved to the territory of the Russian Federation for the first time in 11 years of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding hundreds of square kilometers of a buffer zone. The purpose of the operation was to prevent a new enemy offensive in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
The actions of the Defense Forces forced the Russian Armed Forces to transfer significant resources to the Kursk region, weakening their own positions on other fronts. Moscow was forced to involve 12 thousand North Korean soldiers in the fighting. The total losses of the foreign contingent are about 4 thousand people. Of the three conditional brigades of the DPRK, one was actually destroyed, two lost combat capability.
The General Staff says that North Korean units have now been withdrawn from the front line. The head of the GUR Kyrylo Budanov noted the day before that their fighters are still fighting in Kursk, but in reduced numbers.
As of February 5, the enemy in the Kursk region lost:
- 689 armored combat vehicles;
- 386 artillery systems;
- 12 units of MLRS;
- 12 air defense systems;
- 1 plane;
- 3 helicopters;
- 931 operational-tactical level UAVs;
- 1,164 units of automotive equipment;
- 34 units of special equipment.
Ukrainian soldiers captured 909 occupiers, allowing hundreds of defenders held in Russian prisons to return home.
"The Kursk offensive operation remains an example of sudden asymmetric and successful actions of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, which make it possible to inflict significant losses on a superior enemy and seize the initiative on the battlefield," the General Staff added.
The Kursk operation
At first, Russian telegram channels and "military groups" wrote about the beginning of offensive operations in Kursk.
Ukraine officially confirmed the operation only on August 12. Ukraine controlled over 1 000 km² and 100 settlements in this region. However, according to Western analysts and media, Russia has now regained a number of captured territories. The Russian Federation could have attracted North Korean troops to launch an offensive in the Kursk region.
In October, it became known that the first soldiers from the DPRK had arrived in Kursk. It was about 12 thousand soldiers, including 500 officers and three generals.
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