NATO Military Committee Chairman Admiral Rob Bauer said last week that a third of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russia against Ukrainian forces are dead or wounded. “We know that around 11,000 soldiers are in the (Russian) Kursk region, used by the Russians. What we know now, and also from the Ukrainians, is that a third of those are wounded or dead,” Bauer said in a press conference. press at the end of a meeting of the chiefs of Defense Staff of the Alliance countries.
The Dutch admiral stressed that these troops sent by Pyongyang “are not used very effectively” because “there is a language problem with the Russians, so coordination between the Russians and the North Koreans is not really possible.” He also said that “they are not necessarily used as a shield,” but he did point out that Russia does not dispose of them very favorably, so “many of them will die, and that’s how it is.” In reference to those who are captured by the Ukrainians, he noted that “they were interrogated, so they will give information.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has released footage of an interrogation of a North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast. According to Zelensky’s video, the soldier arrived in Russia aboard a cargo ferry along with more than 100 military personnel. While he did not personally receive training on Russian military equipment, he indicated that some of his colleagues in the DPRK did receive such training.
The captured soldier’s testimony reveals that he began his military career at age 17 as part of mandatory service in a reconnaissance battalion. Not even his mother knows where he is now. The prisoner claimed he had no knowledge of his combat deployment and said he “didn’t know he was going to war or who he would fight against,” according to the outlet. .
While he acknowledged that there have been significant casualties among North Korean forces since their participation in combat operations, he did not provide specific figures. The interrogation also revealed the isolated nature of North Korean society. When asked about his knowledge of the outside world, the soldier demonstrated limited awareness. His knowledge of South Korea, for example, was limited to knowing that it has “fewer mountains” than North Korea.
