KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kiev Wednesday with a sophisticated combination of missiles and drones for the first time in 73 days, authorities reported, as the Pentagon said North Korean troops sent to help Moscow’s War Effort is fighting to expel the Ukrainian army from Russian territory Kursk border region.

Air raid warnings sounded for hours as Russia targeted eight regions of Ukraine, firing six ballistic and cruise missiles and 90 drones, the Ukrainian air force said.

Air defenses shot down four missiles and 37 drones, and another 47 drones were stopped by electronic jamming, the statement said. The damage was being assessed.

The airstrike came as most of the more than 10,000 North Korean troops sent by Pyongyang to aid Moscow in the war are engaged in combat in Russia’s Kursk border region, according to the Pentagon. A Ukrainian military incursion into Kursk three months ago managed to hold a large swath of land and embarrassed the Kremlin.

Russia’s military has been training North Korean soldiers in artillery, drone skills and basic infantry operations, including trench cleaning, Pentagon deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said at a briefing on Tuesday. According to the Pentagon, the cooperation faces challenges, including how to achieve military interoperability and overcoming the language barrier.

In this photo provided by the Emergency Service of Ukraine on Nov. 13, 2024, rescue workers put out a fire at a building that was destroyed by a Russian strike in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Officials in Kiev say Russia has deployed about 50,000 troops to Kursk in an attempt to push the Ukrainians out.

In recent months, Russia has been massing forces for a counteroffensive at Kursk, according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank, although the timeframe for the operation is unknown.

Russia’s plans at Kursk and Ukraine’s efforts to contain a Russian assault in eastern Donetsk region coincides with political uncertainty over how an American administration under Donald Trump will change Washington’s policy on war. US military aid is vital to Ukraine, but Trump has signaled that he does not want to continue giving Kiev tens of billions of dollars.

President Joe Biden plans to step up US military support for Ukraine in the final months of his administration, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

The US will “continue to support everything we do for Ukraine to ensure that it can defend itself effectively against this Russian aggression,” Blinken told reporters at NATO headquarters ahead of planned meetings with allied envoys and Ukrainian officials.

Blinken warned that North Korea’s decision to send its troops into combat operations alongside Russian forces “requires and will receive a firm response.” He did not elaborate.

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Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

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