Moscow has escalated its attacks on Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region and increased pressure in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Ukraine’s top army commander reported on Tuesday.
As the conflict nears its third year, Ukrainian troops are growing weary and are outnumbered along the 1,170-km (727-mile) frontline.
“For the third day, the enemy is conducting intensive assaults in the Kursk region,” Oleksandr Syrskyi stated in an online speech to government and regional officials.
He added that Russia was “actively” using North Korean troops, who were reportedly suffering significant losses.
A U.S. military official confirmed that North Korean forces in the Kursk region had sustained several hundred casualties, with the losses extending from lower-ranking soldiers to those “very near the top.”
Ukraine’s military reported that it had repelled 42 Russian attacks in the Kursk region by Tuesday evening.
An earlier report noted a rise in combat clashes to 68 over 24 hours, compared to about 40 daily last week.
Ukraine launched an incursion into the Kursk region in August but has since lost more than 40% of the territory it initially controlled.
Military analysts believe this incursion has stretched an already long front line, adding further strain on Ukrainian forces.
Syrskyi also highlighted intensifying fighting in Donetsk, where Russian forces are advancing at their fastest pace this year.
Russian troops are focusing on the logistical hubs of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, according to Syrskyi.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced the capture of Hannivka, a village north of Pokrovsk, which houses Ukraine’s only coking coal colliery.
The Ukrainian military blog Deep State confirmed Russian control of Hannivka, though Ukraine’s general staff did not mention it in their late-night report.
Further northeast in Toretsk, under weeks of Russian attack, Ukrainian forces are facing relentless waves of assaults on a coal mine, military spokesperson Anastasia Bobovnikova told national television.
The escalation comes as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House.
Trump stated on Monday that Ukraine should be ready to negotiate with Russia to end the nearly three-year conflict.
His incoming Ukraine envoy is set to visit Kyiv and other European capitals in early January, according to sources familiar with the planning.