The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Facebook on 6 February that Ukraine’s military operation in Russia’s Kursk Oblast has inflicted approximately 40,000 casualties on enemy forces, including over 16,000 killed, during six months of fighting.
The operation, which began on 6 August 2024, marked the first time in 11 years of war that combat operations were transferred to Russian territory. Ukrainian forces continue to hold hundreds of square kilometers of “buffer zone” inside Russia, the General Staff says.
The military reports the operation has achieved its primary objective of preventing new Russian offensives in Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts. Russia was forced to redirect significant resources to Kursk Oblast, weakening its positions in other front-line sectors.
The General Staff notes that Moscow had to request assistance from North Korea, which sent 12,000 troops to the Kursk region. North Korean forces reportedly suffered approximately 4,000 casualties, with one brigade effectively destroyed and two others losing combat capability, leading to their withdrawal from the front line.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian equipment losses in the region as of 5 February 2025 include 131 tanks, 689 armored combat vehicles, 386 artillery systems, 12 multiple rocket launchers, 12 air defense systems, one aircraft, three helicopters, 931 tactical drones, 1,164 vehicles, and 34 pieces of special equipment.
Ukrainian forces also captured 909 Russian soldiers during the operation, significantly expanding their prisoner “exchange pool” and enabling the return of hundreds of Ukrainian defenders from Russian prisons.
The General Staff concludes that the Kursk offensive operation demonstrates Ukraine’s ability to conduct sudden, asymmetric, and successful actions, inflicting significant losses on a superior enemy while seizing battlefield initiative.
Related:
- Frontline report: Russia’s Kursk offensive crumbles as North Koreans pull back
- Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1076: North Korean troops decimated in Kursk Oblast counteroffensive
- ISW: Russian advances slow despite maintaining high casualty rates
- South Korea’s Intelligence confirms North Korean troops’ withdrawal from Kursk Oblast after heavy losses
- Ukraine’s spy chief says nearly 8,000 North Korean soldiers still fighting in Russia’s Kursk Oblast
- Expert says Russians fail to dislodge Ukrainian forces from Kursk Oblast as Kyiv troops decimate 30% of North Korean troops
