North Korean troops deployed to Russia are reported to be playing a key role in Moscow’s recent advances in Kursk, a border region where Ukrainian officials had hoped to gain leverage in potential peace negotiations.
Newsweek contacted the North Korean Embassy in London for comment by email.
Why It Matters
Ukraine and South Korea said in December that Pyongyang had deployed an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 servicemen to southern Russia to fight Ukrainian forces. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has confirmed the deployment of troops from North Korea to fight Ukrainian forces.
This signals that Russia’s relationship with North Korea is strengthening amid President Vladimir Putin‘s war in Ukraine.
What To Know
In recent days, Russian and North Korean troops have taken back control of several villages in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion in August.
Andriy Kovalenko, an official on Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said North Korean troops are storming the front lines in Kursk in “columns,” as Russia’s military attempts to threaten Ukraine’s toehold in the region.
“The enemy is pouring everything he can on the Kursk region. The [North] Korean troops are trying to storm … in columns, they’re actually running across fields,” Kovalenko said in a video on YouTube.
Yurii Butusov, editor-in-chief of Ukrainian news outlet Censor. NET, described the moment two battalions of North Korean troops attacked Ukrainian forces in a village in Kursk.
Troops from Pyongyang had attempted to cut off a Ukrainian bridgehead along the border, said Butusov on his Telegram channel.
The North Korean battalions “suffered significant losses,” he added.
South Korea’s spy agency estimated in January that about 300 North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia to fight against Ukrainian forces had been killed, and a further 2,700 injured. Newsweek has yet to verify these figures.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month that Russia’s military had “brought back in North Korean soldiers” who were conducting “new assaults” in Kursk. His remarks came after reports that Pyongyang had withdrawn all troops from Russia after suffering heavy casualties.
Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential adviser, said in August that the Kursk incursion could boost Kyiv’s position in potential future negotiations with Russia. Representatives from Ukraine and Washington are meeting in Saudi Arabia for talks on Tuesday.
What People Are Saying
Yurii Butusov, editor-in-chief of Ukrainian outlet Censor.NET, said on Telegram: “The attack by two battalions of North Korean special forces near the village of Guyevo with the aim of cutting off our bridgehead along the border has been repulsed.
“The enemy managed to break through several of our positions in the forest, but the breakthrough area was quickly blocked by reserve combat groups from the 33rd and 225th assault regiments, the 253rd assault battalion with the support of our paratroopers.”
What Happens Next
Pyongyang and Moscow’s ties are likely to deepen as the war drags on. Both countries are isolated by sanctions imposed by the West.
KIM WON JIN/AFP/Getty Images