Ukraine war, Moscow has claimed its forces have retaken the Kursk region, but Kyiv has denied any such gains. Meanwhile, a top Russian military official has admitted for the first time to deploying North Koreans into Ukraine.

Russian forces have fully recaptured the territory of Kursk Oblast, the Russian border region partially held by Ukraine since last August, the Kremlin claimed on April 26. "Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov reported to Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin on the completion of the operation to liberate

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reported that since the start of the Kursk operation, Russia has lost more than 62,000 soldiers and more than 4,500 North Korean servicemen in the Kursk operational zone.