Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied by daily combat losses and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk.

A "human wave" of North Korean soldiers fighting on Russia's side in the Ukraine war are being sent to their deaths in futile attacks by generals who see them as "expendable," the White House said Friday."These North Korean soldiers appear to be highly indoctrinated, pushing attacks even when it is clear that those attacks are futile.

Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied and demoralised by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk, a region some want to hold at all costs while others question the value of having gone in at all.