KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday (Feb 7) that North Korean troops were back on the front line in Russia's Kursk region, after reports Moscow had withdrawn them due to heavy losses.

North Korean troops have not been seen on the frontlines in Russia’s Kursk region for several weeks, a Ukrainian military official said Friday, amid reports of mass casualties among Pyongyang’s forces.

Capturing a North Korean prisoner had long been an objective for the Ukrainian special forces, even as the North Koreans seemed willing to kill themselves or a wounded comrade to elude capture. Only one had been taken captive, in December, but he died of his wounds.