Russia and Ukraine are fighting in Kursk, with waves of tanks, drones and North Koreans

Five months after Ukrainian forces crossed the border in Russia’s first land invasion since World War II, the two armies there are engaged in some of the war’s most furious clashes, competing for land and leverage. of the conflict.

The intensity of the fighting is reminiscent of some of the worst sieges in eastern Ukraine over the past three years, including in towns like Bakhmut and Avdiivka, names that now evoke memories of massacres for soldiers on both sides.

The fighting in Russia’s Kursk region has taken on considerable significance in terms of the territory’s potential to play a role in any ceasefire negotiations. Faced with the prospect of an unpredictable new US president – ​​who has vowed to end the war quickly, without clarifying the terms – Ukraine hopes to use Russian territory as a bargaining chip.

Russia, relying on North Korean reinforcements, hopes to push this territory out of Ukraine’s reach.

“Here, the Russians must seize this territory at all costs and devote all their forces to it, while we give everything we have to keep it,” said Sgt. Oleksandr, 46, leader of a Ukrainian infantry platoon. “We are holding on, destroying, destroying, destroying – so much so that it’s hard to even comprehend.”

He and other soldiers, asking to be identified only by a first name or call sign in accordance with military protocol, said the waves of North Korean infantry attacks had made the fighting far fiercer than before. previously.