Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that several “seriously wounded” North Korean soldiers died from their injuries after being captured by Ukrainian forces.
“Our soldiers managed to take them prisoner. But they were very seriously wounded and could not be resuscitated,” Zelensky said in an address on Friday.
Ukraine’s special operations forces said in a statement Sunday they had killed three North Korean soldiers in Russia’s western Kursk region and seized their documents.
Their military identification documents “lack all the stamps and photos, the patronymic names are given in the Russian manner, and the place of birth is signed as the Republic of Tuva,” the statement said, referring to a Russian region in southern Siberia bordering Mongolia.
But the signatures on the documents are in Korean, which “indicates the real origin of these soldiers,” the statement added.
“This case once again confirms that Russia is resorting to any means to hide its losses on the battlefield and conceal foreign presence,” the statement said.
US, Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence estimates put the number of North Korean soldiers in Russia between 11,000 to 12,000, some of whom have already engaged in combat operations alongside tens of thousands of Russian forces to assist in recovering parts of Kursk taken in a Ukrainian offensive in August.
The North Korean troops appear to have suffered heavy losses in the region, according to US and Ukrainian officials, as officials in Kyiv accuse Russia of trying to cover up their involvement.
Ukraine estimates more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Kursk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.
Previously, a senior US official said North Korea has seen “several hundred” casualties — both killed and wounded — in Kursk since October. A South Korean lawmaker said about 100 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been killed and almost 1,000 injured since being deployed to Kursk, according to the country’s intelligence agency.
One Ukrainian unit reported that North Koreans – wearing different uniforms from the Russians – had launched infantry attacks using the “same tactics as 70 years ago,” in an apparent reference to the Korean War, where waves of infantry were used.
Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have ever officially acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.
Zelensky has said Russia is attempting to conceal the losses of North Korean troops on the battlefield, resorting to extreme tactics to disguise the identity of North Korean soldiers killed in combat.
“Russians are trying… to literally burn the faces of North Korean soldiers killed in battle,” Zelensky said in a statement on X on December 17, alongside a video purportedly showing Russian soldiers setting fire to the bodies of North Korean soldiers.
Separately, a Ukrainian frontline drone unit posted video on December 15 purporting to show the bodies of more than 20 North Korean soldiers lined up in an icy field. The quality of the video was not good enough to verify their identity.
Lt. Andriі Kovalenko, an official in Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said the Ukrainian unit captured the footage before Russia was able to evacuate the bodies.
“They try to conceal the involvement of North Koreans in specific operations as much as possible. Therefore, they usually put these bodies in a row, then tracked vehicles arrive and take the bodies away,” Kovalenko told Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform.
He did not specify how many soldiers had been captured. The soldiers are believed to be the first North Koreans taken as prisoners of war by Ukraine.
South Korea’s spy agency said earlier on Friday that one wounded North Korean soldier, who was captured by Ukraine, had died from his injuries, Yonhap news agency reported. CNN has reached out to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and Ukrainian authorities for comment.
North Korean troops are believed to have suffered heavy losses while fighting for Moscow in Russia’s western Kursk region, according to US and Ukrainian officials. Ukraine launched its lightning incursion into Kursk in August, forcing Russia to divert troops to counter the threat.
Zelensky said that the North Korean military has been facing severe losses and accused Russia of sending them to the battlefield with “minimal protection.”
“They have a lot of losses. A lot. And we see that the Russian military and North Korean supervisors are not interested in the survival of these Koreans at all,” he said.
Seoul’s spy agency said Friday it received information on the capture “through real-time intelligence sharing with allies,” but did not specify any country by name.
Neither Moscow or Pyongyang have officially acknowledged the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.
US, Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence estimates however, put the number of North Korean soldiers in Russia at between 11,000 to 12,000, some of whom have already engaged in combat operations alongside tens of thousands of Russian forces to assist in recovering parts of Kursk.
Ukraine estimates more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Kursk, while a senior US official said North Korea has seen “several hundred” casualties – both killed and wounded – in the region since October.
A South Korean lawmaker said about 100 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been killed and almost 1,000 injured since being deployed to Kursk, citing the country’s intelligence agency.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian military said documents seized from three North Korean soldiers killed in Kursk were fake military identification documents with Russian names and birthplaces.
Zelensky has said Russia is attempting to conceal the losses of North Korean troops on the battlefield, resorting to extreme tactics to disguise the identity of North Korean soldiers killed in combat.
“Russians are trying… to literally burn the faces of North Korean soldiers killed in battle,” Zelensky said in a statement on X on December 17, alongside a video purportedly showing Russian soldiers setting fire to the bodies of North Korean soldiers.
“There are risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army,” Zelensky said after receiving a report from Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in which he wrote the two countries will continue to implement the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty they signed in June, which includes a mutual defense pact, Russian and North Korean state media reported.