The Kremlin has claimed that all Ukrainian troops have been pushed out of Russia’s Kursk region and for the first time confirmed the role of North Korean soldiers in the fighting, as Donald Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war.
Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported on Saturday to President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine’s forces inside Kursk had been repelled, nine months after their surprise incursion — which was the first by a foreign army into Russian territory since the second world war. Gerasimov claimed Ukraine had suffered “huge losses”.
“The Kyiv regime’s adventure has completely failed,” Putin said in a carefully orchestrated video meeting that aired on state television.