Ukrainian and Western assessments show that around 11,000 North Korean troops are stationed in the Kursk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that a North Korean battalion deployed to the Russian front near Kursk was wiped out over the course of two days. According to Reuters on Jan. 4, Zelenskyy made the assertion during his nightly video address,

Russian forces, including North Korean troops, lost "up to a battalion of infantry" in fighting around one village in the southern Kursk region in roughly two days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.