The White House said that North Korean soldiers had been moved to the front lines to take an active part in the fighting. This shows Putin's desperation.
This was reported by The Washington Post with reference to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, UNN reports.
Details
This deployment, he said, is a “significant development” that shows Putin's desperation. Kirby also said that the North Koreans had suffered “serious casualties in terms of killed and wounded.” Although he did not provide exact figures, he added that the losses were “in the dozens, several dozen.
At the same time, Ukrainian troops report that inexperienced North Koreans are easy targets. Ukrainian intelligence recently claimed that at least 30 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded in the fighting for Russia in the Kursk region.
The Pentagon says it has “confirmation” that North Korean troops have suffered casualties. Three Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the Kursk region, where Kyiv seized part of the territory in August, described waves of North Korean soldiers flooding the battlefield. Two of them said they observed the North Koreans' movements in real time via drones, while the third, who is involved in intelligence in the region, watched a significant amount of video taken by other units.
A separate Ukrainian military official, who agreed to speak anonymously due to the sensitivity of the information, confirmed that North Koreans had appeared on the battlefield in Kursk and that another battalion of North Korean troops was in Russia's Belgorod region but had not yet been sent to the front line.
Ukrainians are waiting to see whether this battalion will be sent to Kursk or attack Ukraine from another direction, particularly from the Kharkiv region.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to “hide the losses of the North Koreans.” The Ukrainian army is trying to establish the exact number of dead and wounded in the fight against these troops.
Recall
After battles with the Ukrainian Defense Forces, Russians try to burn the faces of dead North Korean soldiers.
Ukraine's defense forces and intelligence are finding out full information about the real losses of Russian units, including Koreans.