A thousand North Korean troops who have been fighting in the Kursk region of Russia have been killed in Vladimir Putin ’s war with Ukraine, officials have said. Western officials have told the BBC that 36 per cent of North Korean forces fighting in Russia had been killed, injured or captured by mid-January.

The military did not specify the exact date of the battle but noted that Ukrainian infantry and snipers, equipped with small arms and grenade launchers, held off the North Korean army's advance on Ukrainian positions for over eight hours.

Ukrainian forces described a different kind of enemy, fighting with unfamiliar tactics and little option to retreat.

Ukrainian operators from special units have captured another group of soldiers from North Korea in the Kursk region. Their equipment is surprising, as one was carrying a modern Russian AK-12 rifle. We present the performance of this final evolution of the famous Kalashnikov.

Operatives from Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces have killed 21 and wounded 40 North Korean soldiers who were advancing on Ukrainian positions in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Source: press service of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) Details: The operatives from the 8th SOF Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,

Russian forces continue to advance on Ukrainian positions in Kursk, according to the journalists' sources, citing Ukrainian military personnel fighting in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. The "sudden absence" of North Korean troops on the battlefield may indicate that they are regrouping and assessing their future actions,

Ukrainian operatives from special units have captured another group of North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. Their equipment is surprising, as one was found carrying a modern Russian AK-12 rifle.