Ukraine’s military intelligence agency reported that approximately 30 North Korean soldiers were either killed or injured while battling the Ukrainian army over the weekend in the Kursk border area of Russia.
The clashes resulting in North Korean casualties took place in three villages in Kursk, where Russia has been striving to suppress a Ukrainian invasion for the past four months, according to the agency, referred to as GUR, in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
At least three North Korean servicemen went missing around another Kursk village, GUR said.
It was not possible to independently verify the Ukrainian claims, which are the first reports of North Korean casualties in the almost 3-year war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred questions about the claims to the Russian Defense Ministry, which didn’t comment.
North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia to help it in the war, according to the Pentagon and Ukrainian officials.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged unwavering support for Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor under a mutual defense pact.
Military analysts say the language barrier has bedeviled combat coordination between Russian and North Korean troops.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, mentioned on Sunday that “The lack of coordination and ongoing communication issues between Russian and North Korean troops are expected to continue creating tensions in Russian military endeavors in Kursk in the coming days.”
Ukrainian officials said Nov. 5 their forces had for the first time engaged with North Korean units that had been recently deployed to help Russia.
Ukraine seized land in Russia’s Kursk border region last August in what was the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II. The operation embarrassed the Kremlin and aimed to counter unceasingly glum news from the front line.
The incursion hasn’t significantly changed the war’s dynamics. Over the past year, Russia has been on the front foot with the exception of Kursk and has been grinding deeper into eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region despite heavy losses.
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