(Reuters) – Ukraine said on Monday that North Korean units fighting for Russia sustained losses of at least 30 soldiers killed or wounded around several villages on the front in Russia’s Kursk region over the weekend.
Ukraine’s military spy agency reported the losses in a statement after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday Russia was using North Korean troops in significant numbers for the first time to conduct assaults in Kursk, a Russian region where Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion in August.
The statement is the first time Ukraine has reported North Korean losses of this scale and in some detail. It said the losses were recorded in the vicinity of the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba and Martynovka in the Kursk region.
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It was not possible to independently verify the figures. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Koreans on its side. Pyongyang initially dismissed reports about the troop deployment as “fake news”, but a North Korean official has said any such deployment would be lawful.
“Due to the losses, the assault groups are being replenished with fresh personnel, in particular from the 94th separate brigade of the DPRK army, to continue active combat operations in Kursk region,” the Ukrainian agency wrote, without providing evidence.
Kyiv first said North Korean forces turned up in Russia’s Kursk region in October and later reported unspecified clashes and casualties. It estimates there are 11,000 North Koreans in total, adding to a force of tens of thousands of Russians.
Ukraine, nearly a fifth of which is controlled by Moscow’s forces, has carved out an enclave in the Kursk region which its troops have been battling to hold as a potential bargaining chip for any potential peace negotiations.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Alison Williams)
