North Korean contingent is recording around 92 casualties per day in the Russian region of Kursk
Russia could lose the 12,000 North Korean soldiers deployed in the Kursk region by April. At the moment, the foreign contingent is suffering around 92 casualties per day in fighting against Ukrainian troops.
“The entire North Korean contingent of around 12,000 currently in Kursk Oblast could be killed or injured in combat by mid-April 2025, should North Korean forces continue to suffer their current high loss rate in the future”, advances a report from the (ISW), released on Thursday.
Since December, when offensive actions in Kursk intensified, North Korean troops have been losing an average of 92 soldiers per day. December marks this turning point, because, according to information provided by Russian war bloggers on the 6th of that month, North Korean forces began to carry out more significant combat operations in Kursk. Previously, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, on November 5, these troops were only involved in “small-scale” clashes.
“North Korea has reportedly transferred about 12,000 North Korean troops to Kursk Oblast and the entire North Korean contingent could be killed or injured in about 12 weeks (about mid-April 2025) if the forces North Koreans continue to suffer similarly high casualty rates in the future”, reiterates the ISW.
Previously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that since the beginning of the year North Korean troops had already suffered 3,800 casualties in Kursk – which includes both dead and wounded. This figure was corroborated by the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS, in its original acronym), which on Monday announced the deaths of 300 North Korean soldiers, and another 2,700 were injured in combat.
In recent weeks it has become known that the North Koreans in Russia have: kill or be killed. This means that they must commit suicide to prevent capture by the Ukrainians. Reports emerge from those that Ukraine manages to capture.
