Thousands of North Korean soldiers have been fighting alongside the Russian military in the Kursk region in recent weeks, according to Kiev and the West, in Moscow’s efforts to remove Ukrainians who have been settled in various places since August.

Casualties are, unsurprisingly, also high, with more than 1,000 Pyongyang troops killed or wounded, according to South Korea’s General Staff of National Defense, mostly by hits from Ukrainian drones.

“We estimate that North Korean troops, which recently began fighting against Ukrainian forces, have suffered about 1,100 casualties,” South Korea’s general staff of national defense noted in a statement, while also noting recent North Korean preparations to send new troops to Russia to reinforce or replace those already fighting.

Meanwhile, recently Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video, according to which the Russians don’t want to leave any traces of the identities of North Korean soldiers, so when they are wounded and just before they die, they set them on fire and burn them!

On 17 December, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Shirsky, said that the Russian army was conducting “intensive offensive operations in the Kursk region, actively using units of the North Korean army”, which had, according to him, already “suffered heavy losses”.

Ukraine launched a surprise attack in early August on Russia’s Kursk region, where it still controls a small amount of territory. North Korea has never confirmed or denied the presence of its troops on Russia’s side.

Pyongyang and Moscow strengthened their military ties after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Historic mutual defense treaty signed by Russia and North Korea in June came into force earlier this month. This provides for “direct military assistance” in the event that one of the two countries is attacked by an armed attack by a third country.