Since early August, the Ukrainian military has occupied a salient inside Russia, in the Kursk Oblast. Now, the Russian military is trying to eradicate that salient by throwing thousands of Russian and North Korean troops at it.

Outnumbered Ukrainian troops are clinging to a section of Russian territory in hopes of using it as a bargaining chip in any future negotiations.

“They are performing quite well,” Ukrainian war correspondent Andrii Tsaplienko said of the 47th Mechanized Brigade’s dozen or so surviving Abrams. Ukrainian crews have praised the M-1’s thick protection and accurate fire controls.

Reclaiming Kursk is high on Moscow's agenda but comments by Valery Gerasimov failed to address the continuing presence of Ukrainian troops on Russian soil.

Ukraine said on Monday that North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops suffered heavy losses during fighting at the weekend in the Russian region of Kursk.

Moscow has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian forces battling to hold an enclave in Russia's Kursk region and increased pressure in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine's top army commander said on Tuesday.

Six people were killed and ten more were hospitalized in the Friday strike, Kursk acting Governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SOF) have reported the elimination of three more North Korean soldiers in Kursk Oblast and seized their documents, which display signs of forgery. The documents are likely being used by Russia to conceal the presence of North Korean military personnel.

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. A criminal investigation has been initiated into the recent deadly terror attack on the town of Lgov in the Kursk Region, the Russian Investigative Committee has told TASS.

North Korea has supplied Russia with thousands of troops to fight against Ukraine, intelligence officials said, but old footage that has resurfaced on social media does not show the funeral of a general deployed by Pyongyang to lead its troops in the ongoing invasion.

As of the evening of December 25, 211 combat engagements occurred in the frontline. Russian forces continue to attack intensively in the Pokrovsk direction, reports the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.