North Korean soldiers have been filmed storming Ukrainian trenches as reports emerge of Kim Jong-un’s troops suffering significant losses.
Volodymyr Zelensky published a series of clips showing North Koreans on the battlefield in Kursk and accused Moscow of trying to “hide” growing casualty numbers.
In drone footage shared on the Ukrainian president’s Telegram channel on Monday, North Korean troops were seen sheltering behind a tree after allegedly advancing on Ukrainian positions in Kursk.
Another video appeared to show Russian forces trying to conceal the presence of their North Korean counterparts, covering their faces with masks and using a campfire to burn the faces of the dead.
“Russia is not only involving North Korean soldiers in assaults against Ukrainian positions, but also trying to hide the losses of these people,” Mr Zelensky said. He added: “The Russians are also trying to literally burn the faces of the killed North Korean soldiers.”
He called it a clear demonstration of Russia’s “contempt for everything human”.
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un revived a ‘mutual defence pledge’ in June – Kristina Kormilitsyna/Kremlin via Reuters
A senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said this week there had been “several hundred” North Korean casualties in Kursk, with soldiers of “all ranks” among them.
On Tuesday, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said that Russia was now “actively” using North Korean troops, and that they were taking on heavy losses.
On Monday, Ukraine’s military intelligence said that at least 30 North Koreans had been killed or injured at the weekend in the front-line villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba and Martynovka.
The same day, Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that North Koreans had entered combat in Kursk and suffered their first casualties, “both killed and wounded”.
He said they were being used in infantry roles limited to Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a surprise incursion in August to create a foothold in Russia but is believed to have since lost 40 per cent of the territory it once controlled.
‘Mutual defence’ pledge
These were the first official reports of Pyongyang’s casualties since the US confirmed in late October that around 10,000 North Korean soldiers had entered the war.
Vladimir Putin and Kim revived a mutual defence pledge in June, which reinforced ties that date back to before the Cold War. The two states have grown increasingly close since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said that Western allies had not adequately responded to the escalation of North Korea’s troop deployment.
Other videos have emerged appearing to show wounded North Korean soldiers in Russian hospitals dressed as civilians, in an apparent bid to conceal their involvement and casualty numbers.
Telegram / Strana.ua
The soldiers were filmed shuffling and limping down the corridor of a military hospital on Pirogov Street in Kursk in casual clothes.
Russian telegram channels reported that more than 100 North Korean soldiers had been housed at the hospital on their own separate floor.
North Korea has not commented on the claims and the videos have not been verified.
Over the weekend, it was revealed that Russia was facing problems commanding North Korean troops because of language barriers.
One incident allegedly involved North Korean soldiers accidentally killing eight Russian troops after a communication issue, according to a report from HUR, Kyiv’s military intelligence.
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