Servicemen of 110th Brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces of Ukraine attend training, amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region [Stringer/Reuters]
AL JAZEERA | Published January 27, 2025
Ukraine’s new enemies are learning on the battlefield but have fatal orders to follow to avoid capture, says Kyiv.
Despite a push by the United States to end Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, Kyiv’s forces appear set for another hurdle almost three years into the conflict.
According to South Korea, North Korea is preparing to send more soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, which has recently captured several North Korean soldiers, says overall, its new enemies are learning on the battlefield, becoming increasingly disciplined.
“With about four months passing since North Korea’s deployment to the Russia-Ukraine war, it is presumed that follow-up measures and preparations for additional deployment are being accelerated due to the occurrence of many casualties and prisoners of war,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement they made public on Friday.
Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR) observed on January 2 that new North Korean troops were rotated into combat positions to replace losses.
The GUR estimated North Korea has so far sent about 11,000 soldiers to fight in Russia’s region of Kursk, where Ukraine has staged a counter-invasion to distract Russian troops.
That force was reported to have arrived in Kursk on November 4, and they entered the battle in earnest 10 days later.
Since then, Ukraine says it has inflicted high casualties, but at a slowing rate, as North Koreans learn and adapt.
In their first 40 days in the field, Ukraine said North Koreans suffered 3,000 casualties, or 75 a day, while in the following 20 days they suffered another 1,000 casualties, or 50 a day.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: North Korean troops choose grenades over capture on Russian front
THE NEW VOICE OF UKRAINE | Published January 27, 2025
North Korean soldiers on the front lines in Russia’s Kursk Oblast have reportedly detonated grenades to avoid being captured, Sky News reported, citing Ukrainian military sources.
According to Ukrainian forces, North Korean troops are poorly prepared to counter threats from drones and artillery and tend to attack in groups of 20, 40, or even 60 people, resembling tactics from World War II, making them easy targets.
Despite Ukrainian fire, North Korean troops continue advancing and try to destroy evidence of their presence in the combat zone. Ukrainian soldiers witnessed North Koreans blowing themselves up with grenades to avoid the risk of being captured. A Ukrainian commander with the call sign “Pulse” recounted that one North Korean soldier even shouted “For General Kim Jong Un” before committing suicide.
Ukrainian forces noted poor coordination between North Korean and Russian troops due to language barriers. However, they also reported that North Korean forces were better equipped than most Russian units.
“They were all clean-shaven and impeccably groomed, like models. None of them had beards, messy hair, or bald heads… It was also hard to determine their age. They were all between 25 and 35, maybe up to 40,” Pulse said.
North Korean casualties in Kursk Oblast
On Dec. 15, 2024, Robert Brovdi, commander of the aerial reconnaissance unit “Birds of Magyar,” posted a video on his Telegram channel showing, as he claimed, the bodies of North Korean and Russian soldiers killed during an assault in Kursk Oblast on Dec. 14.
On Dec. 16, Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence reported that North Korean units fighting alongside the Russian army in Kursk Oblast lost at least 30 soldiers killed or wounded between Dec. 14 and 15.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russian troops are attempting to burn the faces of deceased North Korean soldiers who fought against Ukrainian forces to conceal their losses.
On Dec. 27, South Korea’s intelligence reported that Ukraine’s Defense Forces captured a North Korean soldier in Kursk Oblast, but he later died from battlefield injuries.
On Jan. 9, 2025, at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Zelenskyy announced that North Korean troop losses had reached 4,000 soldiers.
On Jan. 11, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had captured two wounded North Korean soldiers in Kursk Oblast. They were taken to Kyiv, where they were interrogated by Ukraine’s SBU Security Service investigators.
On Jan. 12, the international intelligence community InformNapalm published a video allegedly showing the bodies of North Korean soldiers.
“In drone footage, up to 20 bodies of North Korean soldiers can be seen lined up, possibly for evacuation,” the video description read.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War wrote that North Korea could lose its entire contingent of approximately 12,000 troops deployed in Kursk Oblast by mid-2025 if current high casualty rates persist.
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SOURCE: www.english.nv.ua
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