Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last year the Kursk operation has boosted Kyiv’s “exchange fund” – its negotiating position on swapping prisoners of war – and diverted tens of thousands of Russian troops away from the eastern front.
He said Saturday evening that “up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian airborne troops” had been lost in battles in the Kursk region on that day and the day before.
But Kyiv has so far been unable to halt Moscow’s advances in Ukraine, which were seven times higher in 2024 than the year prior, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.
AIRPORTS SHUT
Both Russia and Ukraine have exchanged regular attacks since the year began.
Russia said Sunday it downed dozens of Ukrainian drones overnight in a barrage that damaged homes and triggered air alerts, while Kyiv said Moscow fired 103 drones into its territory.
Four Russian airports briefly suspended traffic early Sunday for “safety” reasons, forcing at least eight planes to divert course, a spokesperson for Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said.
