Ukrainian troops are facing down a ferocious Russian counteroffensive in Kursk as Putin seeks to take back Russian land before any talks.

There were 157 combat clashes on the line of contact since the beginning of the day on 15 November. The largest number of battles took place on the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts, and the operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast is ongoing.

Experts tell Andy Gregory and Tom Watling that the real question is how much Kyiv’s troops are able to inflict casualties on the Russians as the price for taking the territory back

The U.S. says there will be a "firm response" as Ukrainian forces holding ground in Russia's Kursk region now face North Korean troops "engaging in combat."

The reconsolidated 47th Mechanized Brigade, its people and vehicles no longer scattered across a wide front in western Russia, is directly in the Russians’ crosshairs in Kursk. On Tuesday, 30 Russian vehicles barreled toward the 47th Mechanized Brigade in five waves.

A mass of Russian and North Korean troops is expected to target Ukrainian positions in the Kursk region of Russia.

Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with a sophisticated combination of missiles and drones for the first time in 73 days on Wednesday, authorities reported, as the Pentagon said most of the North Korean troops sent to help Moscow’s war effort are fighting to drive Ukraine’s army off Russian soil in the Kursk border region.

The video shows soldiers from Ukraine’s 36th Separate Marine Brigade targeting Russian troops and military equipment, including tanks and armored vehicles. Read also: Ukrainian forces detail enemy's failed assaults in Kursk Oblast "Russian generals send their elite soldiers to slaughter.