Ukraine believes that North Korean troops stationed in Russia's Kursk region have been withdrawn due to heavy losses inflicted on them by the Ukrainian army, reported Agence France-Presse, citing a Ukrainian military spokesman, quoted by BTA.
"Over the past three weeks, we have not seen or detected any activity or armed confrontation with the North Koreans. As a result (...) we believe that they withdrew due to the heavy losses they suffered," Colonel Oleksandr Kindratenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian special forces, told AFP.
Information to this effect was published in the American daily newspaper "The New York Times".
Two days ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser, Mykhailo Podoliak, wrote on the social network "Ex" that "some North Korean units have been withdrawn from the front line in the Kursk region, according to reports from the Ukrainian special operations forces".
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the topic after being asked by AFP about the "New York Times" publication during a briefing in Moscow.
"There are many different things (in the American daily), some of them accurate, others untrue, third misleading, fourth distorting reality, which is why it is probably not appropriate for me to comment on each of them. That is why I will not do so," Peskov said.
Seoul, Kiev and Washington claim that since October last year, North Korea has deployed about 11,000 military personnel in the Kursk region, who are supposed to assist Russia in its attempt to regain territory occupied by Ukraine in the Kursk region.