North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in fighting in Russia's Kursk region and facing logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks, Ukrainian military intelligence said on Thursday.
The intelligence agency, known by its acronym GUR, reported that Ukrainian attacks near Novoivanovka caused heavy losses to North Korean units.
North Korean soldiers were also found to be struggling with supply problems and even drinking water shortages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean soldiers were killed and wounded in fighting in the Kursk region.
It was Ukraine's first significant estimate of North Korean casualties, weeks after Kiev announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the nearly three-year war.
Meanwhile, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported early Friday that its spy agency had reported that a wounded North Korean soldier had been captured alive.
The agency appeared to confirm earlier reports that a North Korean soldier sent to fight for Russia was captured by Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian forces launched an invasion of the Kursk region in August, dealing a serious blow to Russia's prestige and forcing it to deploy some troops from eastern Ukraine, where it had been conducting a slow offensive.
The Russian army was able to regain some territory in the Kursk Oblast, but failed to completely displace the Ukrainian troops.
Russia intensifies attacks in Ukraine
At the same time, Russia tried to break Ukraine's resistance with waves of cruise missiles and drone attacks on Ukraine's energy grid and other infrastructure.
In the latest attack on Christmas morning, 78 missiles and 106 drones hit energy facilities, the Ukrainian Air Force said. It claimed to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones and blocked 52 other drones.
On Thursday, Russia attacked Ukraine with 31 exploding drones. The Ukrainian Air Force said 20 planes were shot down and another 11 failed to reach their target due to jamming.
Russia fired massive missile and drone fire at Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Wednesday, hitting a thermal power plant and forcing Ukrainians to take shelter in subway stations on Christmas morning. In a statement to X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than 70 missiles and 100 attack drones were used to attack Ukrainian energy sources.
As part of the daily shelling, Russian forces also struck a drone at the central market in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, injuring eight people, according to local authorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened on Thursday that Russia could again strike Ukraine with its new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile, which was first used in an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on November 21.
In a conversation with reporters, Putin said that Russia only had a few Oreshnik missiles, but added that he would not hesitate to use them against Ukraine.
“We are in no rush to use them because they are powerful weapons designed for specific tasks,” he said. “But we wouldn't rule out using them today or tomorrow if necessary.”
Putin said Russia had launched mass production of the new weapon and confirmed a plan to deploy some Oreshnik missiles in Belarus, a neighbor and ally of Russia, where authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday that his country could receive 10 or more missiles.
Vladimir Putin claims that his forces will regain full control over the western Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops launched an offensive last summer. However, the Russian president, who held his annual press conference in Moscow on Thursday, did not provide a specific date.
Ukraine responded with its own drone attacks. Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications said the military struck a factory in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in the southern Rostov Oblast that produces fuel for ballistic missiles.
“This strike is part of a comprehensive campaign to undermine the ability of the Russian armed forces to carry out terrorist attacks against Ukrainian civilians,” the statement said.