Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied by daily combat losses and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk.

Kursk - it's a region some want to hold at all costs while others question the value of having gone in at all. Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders can’t evacuate the dead. Communication lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives,

Since being caught unaware by the lightning Ukrainian incursion in August, Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops in the region.

"It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses," National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said on Dec.

Ukraine's military intelligence says that North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in the Kursk region and are facing logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks

North Korean troops deployed in Russia's Kursk region are suffering heavy losses and being left unprotected by the Russian forces they are fighting alongside, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday.