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

As Ukrainian forces fight in the western Russian region of Kursk, they are encountering a new enemy – elite North Korean servicemen.

On Sunday, Ukrainian infantry and armoured vehicles resumed an offensive in three directions in Kursk, trying to fence their toehold in the district centre of Sudzha that they had seized in August.

By Tuesday, they occupied at least three villages northeast of Sudzha – and inflicted losses on the North Koreans that fight in separate units under Russian command.

“We thinned their ranks – they have losses, although Kim didn’t just send ordinary servicemen,” a Ukrainian soldier told Al Jazeera, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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

“Looks like they send a new brigade every day,” the serviceman told Al Jazeera.

Russians keep advancing despite a reported lack of tanks and armoured vehicles.

“They keep pushing. The only problem they have is their equipment, they can’t throw it around the way they did three or four months ago,” he said.

But the biggest problem his unit – as well as all of Ukraine’s armed forces – faces is a dire shortage of manpower.

Last week, Ukrainian troops retreated from the eastern town of Kurakhove, which Russian troops claimed control of on Monday.

Kyiv’s forces have also lost a key coal mine near Pokrovsk and could be about to lose Ukraine’s biggest lithium deposit in Shevchenkove.

“The Kurakhove defence installations have been taken over just because we didn’t have anybody there,” the serviceman said. “The most motivated soldiers have been killed, the new ones lack training and motivation.”

He also cited poor decisions made by commanding officers, alleging they want to appease their superiors and do not value the lives of servicemen.

“I’ve been wounded so many times because of the commanders’ stupidity,” he said.

Russians ‘looting’ in Donetsk town

The Russian forces that seized Kurakhove are looting abandoned apartments, a local woman alleged.