Zelensky: More than 3,000 soldiers from North Korea have already been killed or wounded

The number of North Korean soldiers killed and wounded in Kursk, Russia, exceeds three thousand.

This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after a meeting of the State Council.

At the Headquarters, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky, reported, in particular, on the situation in the Kursk region. There are risks that North Korea will send even more soldiers and military equipment to help Russia.

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine will prepare "tangible responses" to the increase in the North Korean military contingent on Russian territory.

"And it is important for the world to understand: the risk of destabilization around the Korean Peninsula and in neighboring regions and waters increases in proportion to the growth of cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. The transfer of experience in modern warfare and the spread of military technology from Russia is a global threat," he added.

Today, December 23, the South Korean newspaper Yonhap, citing military sources, wrote that North Korea may soon deploy additional troops to the Russian Federation, as well as transfer new weapons, including kamikaze drones.

Participation of the DPRK military in the war in Ukraine

Ukrainian intelligence reported on October 24 that the first soldiers from the DPRK had already arrived at the front in the Kursk region. There are approximately 12,000 soldiers, including 500 officers and three generals.

According to sources in the American newspaper The New York Times, Russia has assembled a group of 50,000 soldiers for an offensive in the Kursk region. The North Koreans are being trained in artillery strikes, basic infantry tactics and, most importantly, trench clearing, American officials say. This means that at least some of the North Korean soldiers will be used in frontal attacks on Ukrainian positions.

On December 14, Ukraine received confirmation that the Russians had begun using a “significant number” of soldiers from the DPRK in assault operations. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, on December 14-15, units of the DPRK army lost at least 30 soldiers killed and wounded, and three more went missing.

South Korean intelligence had information that at least 100 North Korean soldiers had been killed and another thousand wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region of Russia.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.