Ukraine continues to launch small-scale attacks against Russian troops in Kursk Oblast, while Russia has managed to retake around a third of the Ukrainian-held territory so far, Col. Kiviselg said at the Ministry of Defense's weekly Friday press conference.

Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Russia had concentrated around 50,000 troops in Kursk Oblast, which is tasked with driving out the Ukrainians.

As this means those units have been withdrawn from somewhere else, the pressure on Ukraine on other fronts has been reduced, at least in terms of manpower, Col. Kiviselg said. "So the Ukrainian operation has achieved its objectives," he added.

Current number of North Korean troops would not bring any change

Col. Kiviselg also commented on reports of North Korean troops being sent to Russia to support its aggression in Ukraine. He said this was evidence of Russia's problems in maintaining the intensity of its hostilities.

"Public reports say that the size of the North Korean units could be up to 10,000 soldiers in size and as it stands they are in the Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation. There are also reports of the creation of a 3,000-strong unit based on an assault brigade manned by North Koreans that is likely to operate in the Kursk or Bryansk oblasts in the future," Col. Kiviselg said.

"At the same time, the possible deployment of such a force to the Ukrainian front by the North Koreans – 3,000 or 10,000 troops – will not bring about a significant change on the front. However, if this type of action were to continue for a longer period of time, it could still play an important role in future battles," the EDF colonel said.

However, offering military aid to Russia gives both the North Korean and Iranian leadership plenty of opportunities to exploit the situation to their own advantage, Col. Kiviselg explained.

"It provides Iran and North Korea with the opportunity to demand exclusive security guarantees from the Russian Federation or thus far unavailable technological information that these countries can exploit in their own neighborhoods in the future," said the EDF colonel. "Also, those military personnel who engage in combat on the borders of Ukraine or the Russian Federation will gain military experience that these countries are highly likely to exploit in their own regions against their neighbors. Therefore, it is crucial to sever such ties," Col. Kiviselg stressed.

Russia keeps the initiative

Speaking more generally about the course of the war in Ukraine, Col. Kiviselg said that Russian troops were still holding the initiative along the entire front and have advanced in some places.

"There has been no major change in the focus and intensity of the fighting – there are around 175 attacks a day. In particular, the main focus of Russian Federation's attacks remains in Donetsk Oblast, where almost half of the ground attacks are taking place. The activity is then concentrated on isolating the settlements of Selydove and Kurakhove, and the Russian forces are probably aiming to put pressure on Pokrovsk from the south," he said.

Tactically, Russian troops have also made progress in the Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

"According to geo-location data from public sources, during the last week the contact line of the troops has also changed in the directions of Lyman, Chasiv Yar, Toretsk and Robotyne, unfortunately to the benefit of the Russian Federation," Col. Kiviselg said.

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