Ukraine says it has captured 717 Russian troops in Kursk

KYIV (AFP): Ukrainian forces have captured more than 700 Russian soldiers since they launched a surprise offensive into Moscow’s border region of Kursk in August, Kyiv said on Wednesday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said one of the objectives of the shock, cross-border attack was to replenish Ukraine’s stocks of war prisoners, to exchange for captured Ukrainian troops.

Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, wrote in a social media post that his troops had captured 717 Russian troops in all.

Moscow and Kyiv, despite being at war for nearly three years, still coordinate on the exchange of prisoners of war and have held dozens of swaps since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian military officials and bloggers have claimed the Russian military has been pushing Ukrainian forces back from the Kursk region.

Kyiv said this week it had engaged North Korean troops for the first time in Kursk since its allies in the United States and Europe sounded the alarm over the deployment of thousands of Pyongyang’s forces to bolster the Kremlin’s war efforts.