Reports of North Korean soldiers being killed while fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine | News of the war between Russia and Ukraine

Russia and North Korea have not commented on Ukraine’s claims that about 30 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded in the fighting.

Ukrainian military intelligence and the Pentagon said Ukrainian forces killed and wounded a number of North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region.

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known as GUR, said on Monday that North Korean army units had suffered “significant losses” with “at least 30 soldiers” killed and wounded in the Kursk region, near the villages of Plikhovo, Vorobzha and Martynovka.

“Also in the Kurilovka village area, at least three North Korean soldiers are missing,” GUR added in a statement posted on its Telegram channel on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C., Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Rader backed the Ukrainian military’s claims, saying the United States found “indications” that North Korean forces were “killed and wounded” in the fighting in Kursk.

The Kremlin, which rarely provides details about casualties among its forces and allies, directed a request for comment from the Associated Press news agency to the Russian Defense Ministry, which did not immediately respond.

According to South Korean, US and Ukrainian intelligence, an estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia to fight on the front lines against Ukrainian forces.

Most North Korean forces have been deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, which has been under partial Ukrainian control since Kiev’s surprise incursion into Russian territory in August.

Analysts say that North Korean forces are facing… Potential challenges Including lack of combat experience and language barriers. The deployment of these forces has not been officially acknowledged by Pyongyang or Moscow, however, the two countries have publicly deepened their military ties in recent months.

Historic mutual defense treaty, first signed in Pyongyang on June 19 under Russian President Lavish state visit by Vladimir PutinIt obliges the two countries to provide immediate military assistance to each other using “all necessary means” if either of them faces “aggression.”

Russia relies on foreign fighters to bolster its numbers

As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, Moscow is reportedly relying on deceptive tactics to recruit foreign fighters to bolster its numbers on the front line as the death toll among troops mounts.

There have been reports that men from South Asian countries – incl Nepal, India And Sri Lanka – who went to fight in the war as mercenaries Sent directly To the front, while also being deprived of their salaries. Earlier this year, Nepali men who spoke to Al Jazeera said they thought they would be used as support, due to their lack of military training, but were pushed to the front lines.

Both Russia and Ukraine rarely provide specific details on the numbers of their troops killed or wounded in the war since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Russian media MediaZona reported in September that more than 71,000 Russian soldiers had been identified He was confirmed dead In Ukraine. The Ukrainian General Staff claimed that as of October 1, more than 654,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war.

The Russian Defense Ministry estimates that Kiev has lost nearly half a million soldiers, according to a report published by the RT news site in September.