Ukraine said Monday that its troops killed or wounded at least 30 North Korean soldiers who had been deployed by Russia to its western Kursk region, where Ukraine has seized territory. Thousands of troops from North Korea have come to reinforce Russian forces, including in the Kursk border region where Russia has been clawing back territory after a surprise offensive from Ukrainian forces this summer.
“On December 14 and 15, army units from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) suffered significant losses near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba, Martynovka in the Kursk region of Russia — at least 30 soldiers were killed and wounded,” Ukraine’s military intelligence said. The units are “being replenished with fresh personnel” from North Korea, which Western officials estimate has sent at least 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow.
Russia and North Korea have boosted their military ties since Moscow’s invasion. Russia has begun deploying “a noticeable number” of North Koreans in assaults to push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, Zelensky said on Saturday.
He said that according to his information, “the Russians include (North Koreans) in combined units and use them in operations in the Kursk region”, where Ukraine launched an incursion in August. Zelensky said he has also heard the North Koreans “may be used in other parts of the front line”, and that “losses among this category are also already noticeable”.
Russia’s defence ministry said last week its troops recaptured some small settlements in the Kursk region. Last month a Ukrainian army source told AFP that Kyiv controls 800 square kilometres of territory there, down from previous claims it controlled around 1,400 square kilometers.
North Korea’s involvement in Ukraine is a ‘dangerous expansion’ of the conflict
Ten countries and the European Union (EU) called North Korea’s growing involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine a “dangerous escalation” in a joint statement issued by the United States on Monday. Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to bolster Russia’s war effort, including in the Kursk border area, where Ukraine reported on Monday that at least 30 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded by its fighters.
“North Korea’s direct support for Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine marks a dangerous escalation of the conflict, with serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific security,” the statement said. The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the EU High Representative.
They said they expressed “deep concern” about the possibility that Russia could provide political, military or financial support to North Korea’s illicit weapons programs, including weapons of mass destruction. North Korea and Russia have strengthened their military ties since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to experts, nuclear-armed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is eager to gain advanced technology and combat experience from Moscow for his soldiers.
The signatories to the statement said they “strongly condemned the increasing military cooperation,” including “the deployment of North Korean forces in Russia for use on the battlefield against Ukraine.”
“Pyongyang’s exports of ballistic missiles, artillery and other military equipment to Russia, as well as Moscow’s training of North Korean soldiers with weapons, represent a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” they said in a statement. “We call on North Korea to immediately cease all assistance, including the withdrawal of its troops, to Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine.”
The United States and South Korea have accused North Korea of sending more than 10,000 troops.
