Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned final yr the Kursk operation has boosted Kyiv’s “change fund” – its negotiating place on swapping prisoners of conflict – and diverted tens of 1000’s of Russian troops away from the jap entrance.
He mentioned Saturday night that “as much as a battalion of North Korean infantry troopers and Russian airborne troops” had been misplaced in battles within the Kursk area on that day and the day earlier than.
However Kyiv has thus far been unable to halt Moscow’s advances in Ukraine, which had been seven instances greater in 2024 than the yr prior, in line with an AFP evaluation of knowledge from the Institute for the Examine of Conflict.
AIRPORTS SHUT
Each Russia and Ukraine have exchanged common assaults because the yr started.
Russia mentioned Sunday it downed dozens of Ukrainian drones in a single day in a barrage that broken properties and triggered air alerts, whereas Kyiv mentioned Moscow fired 103 drones into its territory.
4 Russian airports briefly suspended visitors early Sunday for “security” causes, forcing a minimum of eight planes to divert course, a spokesperson for Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia mentioned.