SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST | Published December 2, 2029
Ukrainian president says North Koreans deployed in western Russia have been killed in combat against his forces
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that North Korean soldiers deployed in western Russia to fight on Moscow’s side in the war against his country have been killed, and it is almost certain they will ultimately be used as “cannon fodder” on the front lines of the conflict.
In an exclusive interview with Kyodo News at the presidential palace in Kyiv, Zelensky also said support for Ukraine from its partners is “not enough” and urged Nato to invite Kyiv for membership talks with the transatlantic military alliance as soon as possible.
Zelensky, who continues to see Nato membership as indispensable for Ukraine’s security and prosperity, underscored that the war has entered a “complicated period” as Russia advances faster in the eastern part of his country.
Zelensky expressed appreciation for Japan, the United States, South Korea and numerous European and other countries that have provided assistance for Ukraine and imposed sanctions against Russia. But he stressed that more help is needed to strengthen Ukraine.
Responding to all questions in Ukrainian, he did not say how many North Korean troops, initially transferred to eastern Russia in October, have been killed or wounded in combat against Ukrainian forces. He said there has been evidence that about 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region bordering Ukraine by now, but Kyiv needs “to have proof” before disclosing the exact number of casualties.
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SOURCE: www.scmp.com
RELATED: North Korean Troops Will Be Used as ‘Cannon Fodder’ in Ukraine: Zelensky
Korean People’s Army soldiers in Pyongyang on September 9, 2018. North Korean troops deployed alongside Russian forces against Ukraine will be “cannon fodder,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images
NEWSWEEK| Published December 2, 2029
North Korean troops deployed alongside Russian forces against Ukraine will be “cannon fodder,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, confirming that the first of Pyongyang’s fighters had been killed, but stopping short of providing casualty numbers.
Kyiv authorities must “have proof” before making the number of North Korean casualties public, the Ukrainian leader told Japan’s Kyodo news agency.
South Korean, U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence have indicated that upward of 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to the western Russian region of Kursk to support Moscow’s war effort.
Reports have indicated the fighters are dressed in Russian military uniforms and integrated into the Kremlin’s existing military forces in western Russia, where Moscow has been battling Ukrainian troops since early August.
Russia hasn’t confirmed or denied the presence of North Korean troops in Kursk, but it has signed a mutual defense pact with the secretive country’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un.
Pyongyang has supplied a significant number of missiles and shipments of munitions to prop up Moscow’s war effort. A South Korean intelligence official has said that Russia had provided air-defense equipment and “economic aid in various forms” to North Korea.
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SOURCE: www.newsweek.com
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