LThe Russian-Ukrainian conflict continues. In his daily address, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, December 14, that North Korean troops who took part in the conflict alongside Russia would have carried out offensive actions in the Russian region of Kursk occupied by the Ukrainian army. “There is preliminary information that the Russians have started using soldiers from North Korea in assaults in notable quantities,” the Ukrainian leader said.
“The Russians are integrating them into combined units and using them in operations in the Kursk region,” he said. If for the moment, the soldiers sent by Pyongyang have only taken part in the fighting in this region, the fact remains that according to Volodymyr Zelensky, they could be deployed in other parts of the front.
Significant North Korean losses?
While the fighting has raged since February 24, 2022 after the military offensive launched by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, the North Korean troops who came to reinforce the Russian army have already suffered “notable losses” according to Volodymyr Zelensky. Accusing his Russian counterpart of having taken the war to “another stage”, the Ukrainian head of state did not fail to target those who, in recent times, are increasingly reluctant to support kyiv for fear of 'an escalation with Moscow. “If this is not an escalation, then what is the escalation that many are talking about,” he lambasted.
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Answer
Taken by surprise after a military offensive carried out at the beginning of August by the Ukrainian army to regain control of areas of the Kursk region, Vladimir Putin would have appealed to his ally Kim Jong-un to obtain several thousand soldiers from him in order to come and fight alongside him in his conquest of Ukraine. In exchange, the Russian president would provide fuel, anti-aircraft missiles and economic aid according to several South Korean government officials and a research organization.
In late November, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin estimated that some 10,000 members of the North Korean military were in the region. “I fully expect to see them engaged in combat soon,” he also said while explaining that at the time, he had no significant information according to which North Korean soldiers were “actively engaged in combat.” Comments that are the opposite of those made by Volodymyr Zelensky, who, at the beginning of November, affirmed that “certain” North Korean soldiers had already taken part in hostilities and suffered losses in the Kursk region.
