**North Korean Troops Suffer Heavy Losses in Ukraine**
A couple hundred North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. A senior US military official told the Associated Press that the high casualty rate is due to the soldiers’ lack of battle experience.
**Russia Deploys North Koreans to Help Oust Ukrainians**
Russia has deployed over 10,000 North Korean troops to help oust Ukrainian forces from Kursk Oblast since early August. The exact number of North Korean losses is hard to determine, as Russia is trying to hide the casualties, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
**Ukrainian Forces Claim to Have Killed 50 North Koreans**
Ukraine’s Special Operation Forces claim to have killed 50 North Korean soldiers and injured 47 more in three days of fighting. Despite these losses, Ukrainian forces are on the back foot, facing a Russian advantage in manpower and equipment.
**Russian and North Korean Forces Launch Intensive Offensive**
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Russian and North Korean forces have been carrying out an intensive offensive in Kursk Oblast for three days. The Ukrainian military is struggling to hold on to territory, with estimates suggesting they may have lost half of the land they initially captured.
**Ukraine Seeks to Hold On to Russian Territory**
The loss of territory has led some to speculate that Ukraine is seeking to hold on to a piece of Russian territory as a possible bargaining chip ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump‘s expected push for peace negotiations.