Russia has suffered heavy losses in five months of fighting Ukrainian forces in its Kursk region, with nearly 15,000 of Vladimir Putin’s troops killed, Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday.
“During the Kursk operation, the enemy has already lost 38,000 of their soldiers in this direction alone, with nearly 15,000 of these losses being irreversible,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address. Ukraine launched its surprise incursion inside Russia’s Kursk in August last year.
Over the weekend, Ukrainian soldiers renewed their offensive inside Kursk in a bid to gain as much territory as possible before Donald Trump enters office in Washington.
Kyiv has not yet acknowledged the attack but a senior Ukrainian official said Russia was “getting what it deserves” there.
Elsewhere, Ukraine claimed to have destroyed three Russian air defence systems, worth tens of millions of pounds, in just one day.Ukrainian navy commander Oleksii Neizhpapa said they had hit two Russian anti-missile Pantsir-S1 systems and one OSA anti-aircraft vehicle.
Pantsirs have an estimated value of $15m (£12m) each.
