Zelensky reports several North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine
Russia and North Korea have not yet confirmed the presence of this group in combat, but the White House reports a total of around 1,000 troops from Pyongyang have died in the conflict.
Ukrainian artillery on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky announced that several wounded North Korean soldiers died Friday in Ukraine after being taken prisoner, while accusing Russia of providing these soldiers with "minimal protection."
Several “seriously wounded” North Korean soldiers died from their injuries after being captured by Ukrainian forces. “Our soldiers managed to take them prisoner. But they were very seriously wounded and could not be resuscitated,” he said during his daily statement.
The Ukrainian president also denounced the madness of which dictatorships are capable by sending soldiers to die fighting in Europe.
According to Kiev, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including about 500 officers and three generals, are deployed in Russia's Kursk region, where the Ukrainian army has been conducting an offensive since August.
To date, neither Russia nor North Korea has confirmed the presence of this contingent in the conflict.
"They have a lot of casualties. A lot. And we see that the Russian military and North Korean overseers are not at all interested in the survival of these Koreans," Zelenski added.
Zelensky said that the North Korean military has been facing severe losses and accused Russia of sending them to the battlefield with “minimal protection.”
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, meanwhile, confirmed South Korea's estimate that some 1,000 troops from Pyongyang were killed or wounded "last week alone" during fighting in Kursk.
According to Kirby, Russian and North Korean military commanders have sent these troops to be slaughtered and ordered them to perform useless assaults on Ukrainian defenses.
On Friday morning, South Korean intelligence services reported that a North Korean soldier who had been captured on Dec. 26 while fighting alongside Russian forces, succumbed to his wounds.
His capture marked the first known case since Kiev and Western countries said Pyongyang had deployed troops.
The involvement of a foreign army in the conflict marks a considerable escalation in the invasion of the former Soviet republic, launched by Russia nearly three years ago.
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