North Korean troops return to fight for Russia in Ukraine
North Korean soldiers returned to the battlefield in Russia after being temporarily pulled from the frontlines, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
About 11,000 soldiers were sent to the Kursk region by Pyongyang last fall following Ukraine’s seizure of the western Russian province. After devastating battlefield losses — 1,000 troops from the Hermit Kingdom were killed and 3,000 others are missing or were captured — they were pulled from fighting, according to reports.
Ukraine’s forces had not faced the soldiers for three weeks, the Kyiv Independent reported.
But during his Friday evening address, Zelensky announced the troops were “brought in again” and conducted “assaults” alongside Russian troops in Kursk, as Ukraine pursued a new offensive in the region.
Zelensky said a “significant number” of them were killed. “We’re talking hundreds of Russian and North Korean servicemen,” he said.
They were just the latest heavy losses for the Russians. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Saturday that Russia has lost 847,860 troops since the beginning of its February 2022 invasion.
The figure includes 1,210 casualties in the last day alone, the military said on Facebook.
About 45,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in combat since Russia’s invasion, Zelensky said in an interview with UK journalist Piers Morgan last week.
Still, Kyiv has a manpower shortage at the front. It is launching a new recruitment effort in the coming week, with lucrative contracts aimed at enticing men ages 18 to 24, below the country’s draft age, to enlist.
Meanwhile, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which was created to coordinate weapons support for the country, will meet this week in Brussels with foreign supporters.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will attend the meeting and reiterate President Trump’s “commitment for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible,” the Department of Defense said in a statement.
“He will also highlight the need for increased European leadership on security assistance to Ukraine,” it said.
The meeting comes ahead of the annual Munich Security Conference, where leaders from a host of allies will meet, including Vice President JD Vance; Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, and Zelensky.
President Trump told reporters on Friday that he will likely meet personally with Zelensky this week, too, a face-to-face Zelensky has been pressing for before any US-Russia meetings.
Zelensky is eager to broker a deal to supply the US with rare earth minerals in return for financial support in the war, he said in an interview with Reuters this week.
Ukraine is rife with rich deposits that can be used for manufacturing high-performance magnets, electric motors and electronics.
With Post wires
