In a chilling display of the ferocity and desperation that characterizes the conflict in Ukraine, recent reports They highlight the participation of North Korean soldiers in the Russian Kursk regionwhere they face a critical situation.
John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman has revealed that these fighters, sent by the military leaders of North Korea and Russia, have carried out massive but futile attacks against Ukrainian forces. The consequences have been devastating: high casualty numbers and disturbing accounts of suicides and executions within their own ranks.
Kirby has assured in a press conference that the North Korean troops are “highly indoctrinated”which leads them to carry out assaults even when their futility is evident. “We have reports of North Korean soldiers who They take their own lives rather than surrender to Ukrainian forcesyes, probably because fear of reprisals against their families in North Korea if they are captured“he explained.
Furthermore, he has indicated thatHuman wave tactics “have not been as effective” as Russia and North Korea expected. “In fact, we estimate that they have caused many casualties among the North Korean forces. We estimate that, to date, they have suffered more than 1,000 dead or injured in these specific battles just in the last week,” he added.
The dimension of sacrifice
Ukraine and the United States estimate that around 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia to support the war effort in Kursk. Ukraine has reported more than 3,000 casualties among them, while South Korea estimates at least 1,100 have been killed or wounded..
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently corroborated the severity of the losses. “They have suffered many casualties, many. We can see that the Russian army and the North Korean security forces They have no interest in saving those Koreans“. He has also confirmed reports about North Korean soldiers executing their own comrades to prevent their capturea practice that highlights the cruelty of the conflict.
“It is clear that Russia and North Korea’s military leaders are treating troops as consumabless and ordering a useless attack against Ukraine,” Kirby says.
