North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in the fighting in Russia's Kursk region and are facing logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks, Ukraine’s military intelligence said Thursday.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has, for the first time, sent combatant units abroad, to aid Russia in the war in Ukraine. As noted in the Joint Statement on the DPRK’s Deployment of Troops to Russia this development indelibly connects the Indo-Pacific and European theaters,

North Korea has lost more than 3,000 troops in about two months of combat in Russia’s Kursk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday — and he criticized world leaders for doing “almost nothing” to counter Moscow’s alliance with Pyongyang.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had asked the Defense Department to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, after condemning Russia's Christmas Day attack on Ukraine's energy system and some of its cities.

Russia attacked Ukraine's energy system and some cities in an "inhuman" Christmas Day assault, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.