Ukrainian units quickly drove deep into the Kursk region in several directions, meeting little resistance and sowing chaos and panic. As the most capable Russian units were fighting in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Moscow didn’t have enough land forces to protect the Kursk region and other border areas.

The Russian army has fully liberated the border Kursk region from Ukrainian control with the help of North Korean soldiers, Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Saturday, admitting their participation in the conflict for the first time.

All Ukrainian troops have been forced from parts of Russia’s Kursk region, which Moscow lost control of last year to a surprise Ukrainian incursion, Russia’s top general said in a Kremlin meeting Saturday.