US says North Korean soldier killed fighting in Ukraine
The US has said that North Korean soldiers have been killed fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region.
This will be the first information about casualties since it came out In October, North Korea sent about 10,000 troops to reinforce Russia’s war effort.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, GUR, said at least 30 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded in fighting over the weekend.
The BBC has not independently verified the claims.
The North Korean soldiers – none of whom will have any previous combat experience – are believed to have spent their first weeks in training and then in support roles after being sent to Russia.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had begun using “significant numbers” in its attacks in Kursk, parts of which Ukraine has captured. launch a surprise attack in August.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the US believed North Korean troops were “engaged in combat at Kursk with Russian forces” and “suffered casualties, both killed Gone and got injured”.
He did not give specific numbers, although said troops had been in combat since “a little more than a week ago.”
He said it appeared the North Koreans were being used in infantry roles and that until now it was thought their involvement was limited to Kursk, meaning they were not deployed to Ukraine itself. Is.
Russian forces, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have been advancing into eastern parts of the country in recent months.
GUR said the North Korean deaths occurred on Saturday and Sunday in the Kursk villages of Plekhovo, Vorobzha and Martynovka.
On Monday, President Zelensky posted drone footage on Telegram that showed several people hiding behind trees, saying they were North Korean soldiers who had just taken part in an attack on a Ukrainian position.
He also posted footage in which he said Russian soldiers were trying to hide the presence of North Koreans on the battlefield by using campfires to burn the faces of those killed.
“Ukraine’s defense forces and intelligence are working to determine the full extent of the actual damage caused to Russian units, including North Korean ones,” he said.
He said that “there was not a single reason for the North Korean people to die in this war”.
The Kremlin referred questions about the North Korean deaths to the Russian Defense Ministry, which had no comment.
