At least 100 North Korean troops were killed in the war between Russia and Ukraine

At least 100 North Korean troops sent to Russia were killed and another thousand were injured in combat against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region, South Korean parliamentarian Lee Seong-kweun said on Thursday (19), citing the country’s spy agency.

The losses are attributed to North Korean troops’ lack of experience in drone warfare and unfamiliarity with the open terrain where they are taking part in the battle, Lee explained to reporters.

The member of parliament spoke after a closed-door meeting of the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

The discrepancy in the troop death estimate, made by a U.S. military official who cited hundreds of casualties, is due to the NIS’ relatively conservative analysis, Lee said.

“There has been a report that there have been at least 100 deaths and the injuries are approaching a thousand,” he said.

There are indications that the country is preparing to send reinforcements, Lee continued, including intelligence from the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, overseeing the training.

The report echoed comments from U.S. and Ukrainian officials that North Korean losses were large and Russia was using them in large numbers in attacks in Kursk, the Russian region where Ukraine launched an incursion in August.

North Korean military support for Russia

More than 10,000 North Korean troops have been mobilized to help Russia in the war, according to U.S. and South Korean officials.

Pyongyang also sent more than 10,000 containers of artillery shells, anti-tank rockets, as well as mechanized support weapons and rocket launchers.

Neither North Korea nor Russia have officially recognized the mobilization of troops or the supply of weapons.

President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang in June and signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that included a mutual defense pact.

Also this Thursday (19), North Korea reported that its military alliance with Russia is proving to be “very effective” in deterring the United States and its “vassal forces”, denouncing a recent statement by Washington and allies against the ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.

The Asian country made no mention of its involvement in the war in Ukraine or its casualties.

Instead, he denounced a statement from the Americans, nine other countries and the European Union issued on Monday (16) as “distorting and slandering the essence of normal cooperative relations” between North Koreans and Russians.

In a statement from an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman, Pyongyang blamed Washington and its allies for prolonging the Ukrainian war and destabilizing the security situation in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

“It is due to the mistaken actions of the US and the West that they persist in their structurally destructive military policy,” he exclaimed.

Understand the War between Russia and Ukraine

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and entered the territory from three fronts: through the Russian border, through Crimea and through Belarus, a country that is a strong ally of the Kremlin. Forces loyal to President Vladimir Putin made significant advances in the first few days, but the Ukrainians managed to maintain control of Kiev, even though the city was also attacked. The invasion was criticized internationally and the Kremlin was the target of economic sanctions from the West. In October 2024, after thousands of deaths, the war in Ukraine entered what analysts describe as its most dangerous moment yet.

Tensions rose when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the use of an intermediate-range hypersonic missile during an attack on Ukrainian soil. The projectile carried conventional warheads, but is capable of carrying nuclear material.

The launch took place after Ukraine launched an offensive inside Russian territory using weapons manufactured by Western powers, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

Western intelligence reports that Russia is using North Korean troops in the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow and Pyongyang neither deny nor confirm the report.

President Vladimir Putin, who replaced his defense minister in May, has said that Russian forces are advancing much more effectively — and that Russia will achieve all of its objectives in Ukraine, although he did not elaborate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he believes Putin’s main goals are to occupy the entire Donbass region, encompassing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and to expel Ukrainian troops from Russia’s Kursk region, which they have controlled parts of since August. .

This content was originally published on At least 100 North Korean troops were killed in the war between Russia and Ukraine on the CNN Brasil website.

Source: CNN Brasil