While the war in Ukraine continues to rage despite Vladimir Putin's lack of Russian soldiers, he has deployed North Korean soldiers to Kursk with Pyongyang's agreement to actively participate in the conflict. An operation likely to be repeated elsewhere if it proves successful.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that North Korean troops fighting for Russia may have carried out offensive actions in the part of Russia's Kursk region occupied by the Ukrainian army.
The rest after this ad
The rest after this ad
North Korean soldiers 'could be employed in other parts of the front'
“There is preliminary information that the Russians have started using soldiers from North Korea in assaults – in a notable quantity,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address. “The Russians are integrating them into combined units and using them in operations in the Kursk region. For now, just there. But we have information saying they could be employed in other parts of the front “, he added.
According to him, North Korean troops are “already suffering notable losses.” He also accused Moscow of taking the war to “another stage.” “If this is not an escalation, then what is the escalation that many are talking about?” he continued, referring to the voices reluctant to support kyiv because they fear an escalation with Moscow.
The rest after this ad
The rest after this ad
Ukraine has warned that Russia has amassed some 50,000 troops, including several thousand North Korean troops, to regain control of areas of the Kursk region occupied by the Ukrainian army since a surprise offensive in early August. At the end of November, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin estimated that some 10,000 members of the North Korean army were in Russia's Kursk region.
“I fully expect to see them engaged in combat soon,” Lloyd Austin said at the time. He then said he had “not seen any significant information” reporting North Korean soldiers “actively engaged in combat”. At the beginning of November, Volodymyr Zelensky assured him that “some” North Korean soldiers had already taken part in hostilities and suffered losses in the Kursk region.
The rest after this ad
The rest after this ad
South Korean government officials and a research organization said last month that Moscow was providing fuel, anti-aircraft missiles and economic aid to Pyongyang in exchange for the troops.
