North Korean soldiers, who were sent to the front in the Kursk region of Russia, suffered their first losses in the battle with the Ukrainian military.
The New York Times writes about this with reference to Ukrainian and American high-ranking officials.
The purpose of the operation, in which the military from the DPRK took part, was to find vulnerable spots in the Ukrainian defense. The North Koreans fought together with the Russian 810 separate brigade of marines. It is not clear when exactly the battle took place, but it was small and there the Koreans suffered their first losses.
The Ukrainian official did not elaborate on the casualties of the parties, and the American official told the newspaper that a "significant number" of North Korean soldiers had died.
The main part of the North Korean troops sent to Russia has not yet participated in hostilities. But they may enter into battle in the coming days, sources of the publication in Ukraine specify. Soldiers from the DPRK were divided between two units — an assault unit and a support unit that organizes the defense of the captured Ukrainian territory.
For the first time, it became known about the combat clash between Ukrainian soldiers and soldiers from the DPRK on November 4. This was confirmed by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umyerov, but he did not specify the details of the battle.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that "the first battles with North Korean soldiers open a new page of instability in the world" and called on allies to support Ukraine in the fight against a new threat.
The participation of the military of North Korea in the war in Ukraine
On October 24, Ukrainian intelligence reported that the first soldiers from the DPRK had already arrived at the front — in the Kursk region. There are approximately 12 000 military personnel, including 500 officers and three generals.
South Korean intelligence reported that the first part of the military was transported by ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet to Vladivostok on October 8-13, they were given Russian uniforms, weapons and fake Russian passports. Babel sources said that they are being prepared in such cities as Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, and on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Federation, a "special Buryat battalion" is being formed, staffed by citizens of the DPRK.
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal wrote that the strategic partnership agreement between the Russian Federation and North Korea, which Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed in June, contains a secret clause. According to the agreement, the DPRK will be able to send approximately a thousand of its soldiers to Ukraine at first, and later more.
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