While there is no authenticated image of a North Korean presence, this assertion by the Ukrainian president is coupled with messages from Russian military bloggers to the same effect.
No authenticated images have yet leaked of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside the Russian army in the Kursk region, where the Ukrainians launched an offensive in early August, and yet accusations are still flying. Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, stated for the first time that a “signatic number” North Koreans were engaged in the fighting, reports Reuters. “Some of the personnel of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea troops are secretly transferred to the front line in civilian trucks that from the outside look like water delivery vehicles”even explained the direction of military intelligence in a press release, cited by the Ukrainian media Strana.
Significantly, this time the claim was preempted by a few days by Russian military bloggers who rejoiced over a successful assault by North Korean troops on the village of Plekhovo. The Deep State Map, which geolocates images of the conflict and which is close to the Ukrainian army, confirms that it has lost this location in recent days. Since September, Russian forces have been eating away meter after meter of the salient gained by kyiv in August, going from some 1,200 km2 to 500 km2 in four months. But how many square meters have been taken over by North Koreans? The mystery remains unsolved to this day.
