At least 30 North Korean troops, deployed to bolster Russian forces in their war in Ukraine, have been wounded or killed in Russia’s Kursk region, Ukrainian authorities said Monday, a significant turning point after months of speculation over what role Pyongyang’s troops might play in the war.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known as GUR, announced the casualty number Monday. The Pentagon later said it has “indications” that North Korean troops “have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded.”
Three Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the Kursk region, where Kyiv seized a swath of territory in August, described waves of what appeared to be North Korean troops flooding the battlefield in full view of Ukrainian drones and other weaponry in recent days. Two said they witnessed North Korean troop movements in real time via drone and a third, who oversees reconnaissance in the region, reviewed extensive drone footage captured by fellow troops.
A separate Ukrainian military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence, confirmed that North Koreans have appeared on the battlefield in Kursk in recent days and said another battalion of North Korean troops is gathered in Russia’s neighboring Belgorod region but has not been deployed to the front. Ukrainians are waiting to see whether that battalion is sent to reinforce positions in Kursk or if it will assault Ukraine from a different direction, including potentially inside the Kharkiv region, which borders Belgorod, the official said.
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