Zelenskyy says Ukraine will face 50,000 troops in Russian Kursk | Russia-Ukraine war News

Russia is trying to push Ukrainian troops out of the western Kursk area with tens of thousands of troops, the Ukrainian president said, aiming to retake territory lost since August when it continued its offensive in eastern Ukraine.

In a post on Telegram on Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian troops are fighting about “50,000 enemy soldiers” in Kursk.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would “significantly strengthen” its position on the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove border areas in the east, where the fighting is most intense.

In August, Ukraine launched a surprise attack on Kursk, seizing settlements for the first time on Russian territory since Moscow launched its attack in February 2022.

Russia, however, has continued its slow but steady advance across much of eastern Ukraine, capturing town after town in an attempt to capture the entire industrialized Donbas region.

Zelenskyy's comments come a day after the New York Times reported that Moscow has massed 50,000 troops, including North Korean troops, in the Russian region bordering Ukraine.

The West, South Korea and Ukraine have all said that North Korea has sent troops to Russia.

Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops on its territory.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a strategic partnership agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang, including a mutual defense system.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Russian attacks damaged a dam near the front line in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, its governor said, warning that nearby villages could be threatened by rising water levels.

Moscow’s army is rapidly advancing in the Donetsk region and are closing in on the town of Kurakhove, which lies next to the reservoir and had a pre-war population of about 18,000 people.

“The Russians damaged the dam of the reservoir of Kurakhove. This strike potentially threatens residents of settlements on the Vovcha River, both in Donetsk and Dnipro regions,” Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Also on Monday, a Russian missile hit a residential building in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, injuring at least seven people.

The Dnipropetrovsk region’s governor, Serhiy Lysak, said on Telegram that a 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy were among the injured.

A Ukrainian military spokesperson also told the Reuters news agency on Monday that Russian infantry groups could launch ground assaults on the neighbouring Zaporizhia region in a matter of days.

The spokesperson said the attacks could put more pressure on Kyiv’s forces, which are already overstretched.

“[The assaults] may begin in the near future. We are not even talking about weeks. We expect it to happen any day,” Vladyslav Voloshyn told Reuters.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Putin had spoken to US President-elect Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine despite reports that the leaders had spoken.

“This is a very clear example of the quality of information being published now, sometimes even in reputable publications,” Peskov said, adding that there were “no concrete plans” for Putin to communicate with Trump.

While campaigning to win the White House, Trump said he could end the war within 24 hours if elected without elaborating.

Separately, the Kremlin said it feels that European countries are afraid of President Trump's position and it is too early to talk to European leaders about ending the conflict as they continue to supply Kyiv with weapons.

“There are no preparations going on now [to speak to European leaders]. We have not found any signs,” said Peskov.

“European leaders continue … to try to achieve the defeat of Russia,” he added.