North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops in the Kursk region have already sustained casualties, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.
“Currently, 11,000 North Korean soldiers are present on Russian territory near the border with Ukraine, specifically in the Kursk region. Some of these troops have already taken part in combat operations against Ukrainian forces, and there are already losses,” Zelensky said at a press conference following the European Political Community Summit in Budapest.
The New York Times reported that North Korean troops had entered the fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine on November 5, citing an anonymous U.S. official who said a “significant number” were killed during a “limited engagement” in the Kursk region.
Zelensky did not specify how many North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded.
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