KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — North Korean troops have entered combat in the Russian region of Kursk and already begun to suffer casualties, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.
“We do assess that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk alongside Russian forces. We do have indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded,” said Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder in a briefing with reporters.
The Pentagon estimates 12,000 North Korean soldiers have traveled to the region, after the country’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, offered to send reinforcements earlier this fall. Until recently, though, they hadn’t yet entered combat, even as Russia continues to take more than 1,000 casualties per day across the front line, per U.S. figures.
Ryder said the troops entered the fight sometime last week and integrated into Russian formations, adding that their use was so far restricted to Kursk.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency first reported the development earlier Monday, claiming that around 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded in fighting against the Ukrainian army at the weekend in Russia’s Kursk border region.
The North Korean casualties occurred around three villages in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a Ukrainian incursion, the agency, known by its acronym GUR, said in a public post on the Telegram messaging app.
At least three North Korean servicemen went missing around another Kursk village, GUR said.
It was not possible to independently verify the Ukrainian claims, which are the first reports of North Korean casualties in the almost 3-year war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred questions about the claims to the Russian Defense Ministry, which didn’t comment.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged unwavering support for Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor under a mutual defense pact.
Military analysts say the language barrier has bedeviled combat coordination between Russian and North Korean troops.
“The poor integration and ongoing communication problems between Russian and North Korean forces will likely continue to cause friction in Russian military operations in Kursk … in the near term,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said late Sunday.
Ukrainian officials said Nov. 5 their forces had for the first time engaged with North Korean units that had been recently deployed to help Russia.
Ukraine seized land in Russia’s Kursk border region last August in what was the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II. The operation embarrassed the Kremlin and aimed to counter unceasingly glum news from the front line.
The incursion hasn’t significantly changed the war’s dynamics. Over the past year, Russia has been on the front foot with the exception of Kursk and has been grinding deeper into eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region despite heavy losses.
Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.
