As battles against Russia intensify, Ukraine’s manpower struggles worsen

Kyiv, Ukraine – As Ukrainian forces combat successful the occidental Russian portion of Kursk, they are encountering a caller force – elite North Korean servicemen.

On Sunday, Ukrainian infantry and armoured vehicles resumed an offensive successful 3 directions successful Kursk, trying to obstruction their toehold successful the territory centre of Sudzha that they had seized successful August.

By Tuesday, they occupied astatine slightest 3 villages northeast of Sudzha – and inflicted losses connected the North Koreans that combat successful abstracted units nether Russian command.

“We thinned their ranks – they person losses, though Kim didn’t conscionable nonstop mean servicemen,” a Ukrainian worker told Al Jazeera, referring to North Korean person Kim Jong Un.

He did not disclose his name, details and nonstop whereabouts of the battles successful accordance with wartime regulations.

South Korean and US officials person said Kim deployed much than 10,000 elite soldiers to Kursk. Hundreds are understood to person been killed determination already.

More than 450km (280 miles) southbound of Kursk, different Ukrainian serviceman keeps repelling waves of Russian infantrymen adjacent the cardinal southeastern metropolis of Pokrovsk.

“Looks similar they nonstop a caller brigade each day,” the serviceman told Al Jazeera.

Russians support advancing contempt a reported deficiency of tanks and armoured vehicles.

“They support pushing. The lone occupation they person is their equipment, they can’t propulsion it astir the mode they did 3 oregon 4 months ago,” helium said.

But the biggest occupation his portion – arsenic good arsenic each of Ukraine’s equipped forces – faces is simply a dire shortage of manpower.

Last week, Ukrainian troops retreated from the eastbound municipality of Kurakhove, which Russian troops claimed power of connected Monday.

A worker holds up a Russian emblem successful Kurakhove, successful the Donetsk region, successful this screengrab taken from a societal media video released connected January 5, 2025 [Social Media via Reuters]

Kyiv’s forces person besides mislaid a cardinal ember excavation adjacent Pokrovsk and could beryllium astir to suffer Ukraine’s biggest lithium deposit successful Shevchenkove.

“The Kurakhove defence installations person been taken implicit conscionable due to the fact that we didn’t person anybody there,” the serviceman said. “The astir motivated soldiers person been killed, the caller ones deficiency grooming and motivation.”

He besides cited mediocre decisions made by commanding officers, alleging they privation to appease their superiors and bash not worth the lives of servicemen.

“I’ve been wounded truthful galore times due to the fact that of the commanders’ stupidity,” helium said.

Russians ‘looting’ successful Donetsk town

The Russian forces that seized Kurakhove are looting abandoned apartments, a section pistillate alleged.

“They’re breaking into apartments that haven’t been damaged by shelling, they bargain everything they tin transportation away,” Olena Basenko, a erstwhile income clerk from Kurakhove who is looking for her aged aunt who refused to permission the town, told Al Jazeera.

“Some ‘liberators’ they are,” she said sarcastically referring to Moscow’s pledge to “liberate” Ukraine from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “neo-Nazi junta” – Russian claims that person been debunked passim the war.

Ukraine’s shortage of manpower has led immoderate analysts to uncertainty Kyiv’s propulsion to resume the Kursk offensive.

“Zelenskyy’s strategy is to amass brigades with instrumentality successful the rear lone to solemnly suffer them successful the onshore of Kursk to summation 1.5km [1 mile] of farmland,” Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany’s Bremen University, told Al Jazeera.

The units that are advancing successful Kursk could alternatively person been utilized to support Kurakhove, helium said.

However, others spot the Kursk violative arsenic a accidental to summation an important bargaining chip.

A nun walks extracurricular St Iveron Monastery, which was heavy damaged by artillery and gunfire during battles for the section airport, arsenic believers be the Orthodox Christmas work successful the people of the Russia-Ukraine struggle successful Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]

Ukraine whitethorn effort to prehend a Russian atomic powerfulness works successful the municipality of Kurchatov that lies astir 70km (45 miles) northeast of Sudzha and could effort to prehend Kursk’s determination superior 30km (20 miles) farther away.

If successful, the takeover of Kurchatov whitethorn go a important strategical gain, according to the erstwhile lawman caput of Ukraine’s wide unit of equipped forces.

“We didn’t privation to marque things worse, but we request to,” Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko told Al Jazeera.

Kyiv whitethorn besides invade the adjacent Russian portion of Bryansk, dealing a dense stroke to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s home reputation, helium said.

“It volition beryllium achy to Putin, and if determination is an violative determination successful Bryansk oregon immoderate different regions, it volition marque him think,” Romanenko said.

Some Russians ridicule Putin’s policies that led to the archetypal overseas penetration of occidental Russia since World War II.

“If the grandpa from the bunker is truthful wise, wherefore bash we person Ukrainians connected Russian land? Something indispensable beryllium wrong,” Roman, a 48-year-old Muscovite who served successful a vessel portion successful the 1990s, told Al Jazeera, deriding the Russian president.

Arina, 15, centre, and her parent Alina clasp banners arsenic they be a rally calling for the instrumentality of her cousins Kyrylo and Anton, and different Ukrainian Marines who defended the Azovstal and are presently prisoners of war, from Russian captivity [Alina Smutko/Reuters]

Bryansk borders Ukraine and has been repeatedly attacked by 2 Ukrainian subject units made up of pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters.

Romanenko said Putin’s determination to ramp up Russia’s violative successful southeastern Ukraine signifies a “fiasco” of Trump’s “peace plan”.

“This attack ended with a fiasco due to the fact that Putin rejected the mentation projected by Trump’s team,” helium said.

Trump has offered fewer details of the plan, but, according to his team, it whitethorn see the constitution of a “demilitarised zone” on the existent beforehand line, Kyiv’s ceding of Russia-occupied areas and a hold of Ukraine’s NATO membership.

Ukraine’s oversea drone weapons

At the extremity of past year, Ukraine scored a tiny triumph that whitethorn herald immense losses successful Russian navy bases and civilian seaports.

On December 31, Ukrainian oversea drones, oregon un-piloted vessels equipped with tiny missiles, attacked Russian helicopters successful the bay of Sevastopol, the main naval basal successful annexed Crimea.

Ukraine claimed to person changeable down 2 helicopters, sidesplitting each 16 unit members.

Moscow acknowledged nary losses but said its forces destroyed 4 Ukrainian unmanned craft and 2 oversea drones.

The onslaught showed that oversea drones could wreak havoc connected Russian larboard and naval infrastructure on the Black Sea, Bremen University’s Mitrokhin said.

Furthermore, Kyiv could usage oversea drones for attacks connected the Russian navy successful the Baltic, Barents and White Seas and successful the Pacific.

“There is truthful overmuch infrastructure determination that it volition beryllium hard to screen it adjacent with roar barriers, fto unsocial support them from each sides similar successful Sevastopol oregon [the Crimean larboard of] Feodosiya,” helium said.

A serviceman of the 13th Operative Purpose Brigade ‘Khartiia’ of the National Guard of Ukraine prepares to occurrence a Giatsint-B howitzer towards Russian troops astatine a presumption connected a beforehand enactment successful the Kharkiv portion [File: Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters]

Meanwhile, the ongoing warfare of attrition tests Ukraine and Russia’s economies.

The Russian system has “partially adapted to the unit from [Western] sanctions, but it presently enters the ostentation daze of overheating and slower growth” due to the fact that of the Central Bank’s precocious percent rates, Kyiv-based expert Aleksey Kusch said.

The Ukrainian system is “in shock” due to the fact that of severely damaged vigor infrastructure and a deficiency of labour force, helium said.

But hydrocarbon exports assistance Russia’s system retrieve from the shock, portion Ukraine is kept afloat by Western fiscal aid.

“It creates a definite parity effect amid absorption to war,” Kushch told Al Jazeera.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Christmas liturgy astatine the Church of St George the Victorious connected Poklonnaya Hill successful Moscow, January 7, 2025 [Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik via Reuters]