Volodymyr Zelensky says North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russia died in Ukraine after being taken prisoner.
For Washington, “Russian and North Korean military leaders consider them as troops that can be sacrificed.”
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War in Ukraine: attacks in Russia are increasing
Wounded North Korean soldiers died in Ukraine after being taken prisoner, Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday. For their part, the United States affirms that the soldiers dispatched by Pyongyang are only considered as cannon fodder.
These wipe “a lot of losses. A lot. And we see that the Russian army and the North Korean supervisors are not at all interested in the survival of these Koreans”declared the Ukrainian president in his daily address. “Several North Korean soldiers died today. Our soldiers managed to capture them. But they were very seriously injured and could not be saved”he said again, before denouncing “the madness of which dictatorships are capable” by sending soldiers to be killed “in battles in Europe”. “Everything is done to make it impossible for us to capture Koreans. The Russians send them to attack with minimal protection”and Zelensky’s insistence.
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The same day, Washington assured that “more than a thousand” soldiers deployed by Pyongyang to Russia to fight against Ukraine were killed or injured during assaults “hopeless” in the Kursk border region. “It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders view them as troops that can be sacrificed”added John Kirby, spokesperson for the American National Security Council. “North Korean forces are carrying out massive assaults (…) against Ukrainian positions in Kursk. These human waves have not been very effective (…). We estimate that to date, more than 1,000 people were injured” or killed, he said.
On Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky said that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed or injured” since their engagement alongside Russian forces and Seoul had given the figure of 1,100. According to kyiv, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including “around 500 officers”, among which “three generals”are located in the Kursk region, 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.
The involvement of a regular foreign army constituted a major escalation in 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.
Swiss
