Moscow (AFP) โ The Russian army has fully liberated the border Kursk region from Ukrainian control with the help of North Korean soldiers, Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Saturday, admitting their participation in the conflict for the first time.
Gerasimov especially hailed the "heroism" of the North Korean soldiers taking part in the operation, who "provided significant assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces".
But shortly after the Ukrainian army denied Russia's claim to have driven Kyiv's forces out of Kursk, saying that "statements by the enemy leadership about the 'defeat' of the Ukrainian troops are nothing more than propaganda tricks".
However, the Ukrainian Chief of Staff acknowledged the situation on the battlefield was "difficult", while insisting Ukrainian forces were still holding positions in Kursk.
The Ukrainian army said it was also continuing operations in some areas of Belgorod, another Russia's border region.
According to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, more than 10,000 soldiers from North Korea were sent to Russia last year to help Moscow fight Ukraine's shock offensive in Kursk.
Kyiv had hoped it could use land in the Kursk region as a bargaining chip in future peace talks with Russia, which has seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine since its offensive began in 2022.
"Today, the last settlement in the Kursk region, the village of Gornal, has been liberated from Ukrainian forces," Gerasimov said during a video conference meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The Kyiv regime's adventure has completely failed," Putin told Gerasimov, thanking the soldiers for the service and saying that Kursk's liberation will create the conditions for further advances at other parts of the front.
The news of Kursk's claimed recapture came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed efforts to reach a "full and unconditional ceasefire" with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral at the Vatican.
Russian troops are now at the border and are poised to beef up threats to the Ukrainian region of Sumy, which faces Kursk, where Moscow has already carried out incursions in recent weeks.