It is reported that North Korean soldiers died fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine Russia-Ukraine war news

Russia and North Korea have not responded to Ukraine’s claim that about 30 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded in the fighting.

Ukrainian military intelligence and the Pentagon said Ukrainian soldiers killed and wounded scores of North Korean soldiers 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 killed and wounded “at least 30 soldiers” near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorobja and Martynovka in the Kursk region.

“Also in the area of ​​the village of Kurilovka, at least three North Korean servicemen are missing,” GUR added in a statement sent to the Telegram channel on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder supported the Ukrainian Army’s claim that the United States had found “signs” of North Korean troops “killed and wounded” in the battle at Kursk.

The Kremlin, which rarely provides details on troop and allied casualties, sent a request for comment from the Associated Press news agency to Russia’s Defense Ministry, which did not immediately respond.

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

The majority of North Korean troops have been stationed in Russia’s Kursk region, which is partly controlled by Ukraine, following Kiev’s sudden incursion into Russian territory in August.

Analysts say that North Korean troops are facing each other potential problems including lack of combat experience and language barriers. Their reported deployment has not been officially acknowledged by Pyongyang or Moscow, but the two countries have publicly deepened their military ties in recent months.

An important mutual defense treaty was first signed in Pyongyang on June 19 during the Russian presidency Vladimir Putin’s lavish state visitcompels both countries to provide immediate military assistance to each other using “all means” necessary in the event of “aggression”.

Russia relies on foreign fighters to augment its numbers

As Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on and death tolls rise among its troops, Moscow is reportedly relying on deceptive tactics to attract foreign fighters to boost its numbers on the front lines.

There are also reports of men from South Asian countries Nepal, India and Sri Lanka – went to war as mercenaries sent directly went to the front, but at the same time they were deprived of their salaries. Nepali men who spoke to Al Jazeera earlier this year said they thought they would be used as reserves because they had no military training, but instead were pushed to the front line.

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

Russian media reported to Mediazona that more than 71,000 Russian soldiers were identified in September and confirmed to have been killed in Ukraine. According to the information of October 1, the General Staff of Ukraine claimed that more than 654 thousand Russian servicemen died in the war.

According to a report published by the RT news website in September, the Russian Defense Ministry estimated that Kiev had lost about half a million soldiers.