North Koreans killed in Kursk as they enter Russia-Ukraine war in earnest
Al Jazeera
Ukraine targets Russia’s mercenaries saying ‘there is no reason for Koreans to fight and die for Putin.’
North Korean soldiers began to go home in body bags over the weekend, as they fought alongside Russians in large numbers for the first time.
“Today, we already have preliminary data that the Russians have begun to use North Korean soldiers in their assaults. A significant number of them,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday.
Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR) reported the North Koreans were embedded with Russian Marines and Airborne troops – elite units – in the Russian region of Kursk, which Ukraine has counter-invaded.
“At one of the positions in the Kursk region, the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea- DPRK] army soldiers were effectively ‘covered’ with [First Person View] drones,” the GUR said in a statement, estimating combined losses of Russians and North Koreans at 200 on the first day of engagement.
Al Jazeera was unable to confirm the toll.
