In Ukraine, North Korean soldiers used as cannon fodder, according to Washington

“More than a thousand” North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia to fight against Ukraine were killed or injured in assaults “hopeless” in Kursk and used as troops “can be sacrificed”said this Friday, October 27, a White House spokesperson, John Kirby.

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“North Korean forces are carrying out massive assaults (…) against Ukrainian positions in Kursk. These human waves were not very effective (…) We estimate that to date, more than 1,000 people have been injured” or killed, said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council.

“It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders view them as troops that can be sacrificed”he added. “A thousand people were killed or injured in the space of seven or eight days. So I hope » that their “commanders (have) a lot of coffins, because they are clearly going to need them”he insisted.

“Sign of despair”

John Kirby also mentioned cases of suicide. “These North Korean soldiers appear to be very indoctrinated (…) There are reports that North Korean soldiers are killing themselves rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces, probably for fear of reprisals against their families in North Korea if they do. would be captured ». He believes that the presence of “foreign troops on Russian soil” is a “sign of despair” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured Monday that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed or injured” since their engagement alongside Russia. On Monday, Seoul for its part mentioned 1,100 “killed or injured”.

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The involvement of a regular foreign army constituted a major escalation of the invasion which was launched almost three years ago by Vladimir Putin and is entering a critical phase with the return in less than a month of Donald Trump to the White House. According to kyiv, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including “around 500 officers and three generals”are engaged in the Russian region of Kursk, of which the Ukrainian army has occupied several hundred square kilometers since August.

Neither Russia nor North Korea have confirmed the presence of this contingent alongside the Russian army. “The involvement of the North Koreans in the fighting did not have a significant impact”Yevgen Ierin, spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), told AFP on Tuesday.

According to him, North Korean troops do not have modern combat experience, particularly in the face of drones that have become omnipresent on the battlefield, and employ “more primitive tactics, from World War II or post-World War II”.