- North Korean soldiers are back on the front lines in Russia, Ukraine said on Friday.
- The North Koreans had been missing from combat operations for several weeks.
- Western intelligence said they were pulled back after suffering heavy losses.
North Korean soldiers are back on the front lines in Russia after disappearing from battle for several weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday.
“In the areas of the Kursk operation, new assaults have taken place — Russia has once again deployed North Korean soldiers alongside its troops,” Zelenskyy revealed in an address to the nation.
“A significant number of occupiers have been destroyed — hundreds of Russian and North Korean soldiers. This is crucial because battles on Russian territory prevent further escalation against our cities and land,” he added.
North Korean soldiers had been missing from combat operations in Russia’s Kursk region for several weeks, fueling speculation that they were pulled back after taking heavy losses. Western intelligence has said thousands of Pyongyang’s troops have been killed and wounded on the battlefield.
Ukraine’s new assessment came just hours after Britain’s defense ministry said North Korean units deployed to combat operations in Kursk had temporarily withdrawn from front-line positions, “likely to rest and refit before redeploying.”
“This is almost certainly primarily due to heavy losses sustained during attacks against Ukrainian-held positions,” the defense ministry wrote in an intelligence update earlier on Friday.
Business Insider contacted the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, and the Ministry of Defense for comment on Kyiv’s assessment that the North Koreans are fighting again but did not immediately receive a response.
Ukrainian forces launched a surprise invasion into Kursk in August. Later in the fall, about 11,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to the region to help Russia recapture the hundreds of square miles of land that it had lost to Kyiv.
The Pentagon has described the North Koreans as well-disciplined, competent, and capable soldiers, although they are still new to the challenges of modern warfare, having not experienced major combat in decades.
However, their fighting style appears to be quite brutal in nature. The Biden administration said the North Koreans were using ineffective human wave tactics and sent on “hopeless assaults” against Ukraine’s defenses.
One Ukrainian commander who fought against the North Koreans told BI they were basically being used as “cannon fodder.” He said in combat, the soldiers would just charge forward from tree lines like they were “in a World War II movie.”
The UK said last month that around 4,000 North Korean troops were estimated to have been killed or wounded fighting for Russia, adding that the high rate of losses in such a short period of time negatively impacted combat operations in Kursk. Conflict analysts warned that this trend was unsustainable for Pyongyang.
Russia and North Korea have strengthened their defense ties during the Ukraine war. Pyongyang has provided Moscow with missiles and artillery, in addition to soldiers.
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