North Korean troops are fighting and dying alongside Russian forces as part of Moscow’s war against Ukraine, according to the latest assessment from the Pentagon.
“North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk with Russians, alongside Russian forces,” Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters Monday.
"We do have indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded,” Ryder said, adding that participation by North Korean troops in the war is for now “limited to Kursk," a region in Russia.
The Pentagon did not share details on the extent of North Korean casualties.
VOA has reached out to the Russian Embassy in Washington, which has yet to respond to a request for comment.
A Kremlin spokesman referred questions about the U.S. assessment to the Russian Ministry of Defense, which also has yet to comment.
U.S. military and intelligence officials have previously said that Pyongyang has sent about 12,000 soldiers to Russia to train with Russian forces in anticipation that they would join Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
But the United States said North Korean forces joined Russian combat operations only in the past week.
U.S. confirmation of North Korean troops fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine came hours after Ukraine’s spy agency said at least 30 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in fighting in several villages across the Kursk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday accused Russia of using “a significant number of North Korean soldiers in its assaults,” describing the North Korean losses as “noticeable.”
On Monday, he alleged that Moscow has been trying to cover up the casualties inflicted on the North Korean troops.
“Preliminary data suggests that the Russians are trying to conceal the losses of the North Koreans,” Zelenskyy said, adding, “There is not a single reason for North Koreans to die in this war."
The Pentagon on Monday said Ukraine has its full support in targeting the North Korean troops.
"As we've said all along, those [North Korean] forces are legitimate military targets for the Ukrainians, given that they are engaged in active combat ops," Ryder said.
Earlier Monday, the U.S. and key allies issued a statement decrying Pyongyang’s growing involvement in the war as a “dangerous expansion” of the conflict.
U.S. State Department officials, likewise, warned Moscow and Pyongyang of sending North Korean troops into Ukraine.
“If they were to cross the border into Ukraine, that would be yet another escalation,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in response to a question from VOA.
More aid for Ukraine
Norway announced $242 million in new military aid for Ukraine on Monday, including help securing access to the country’s vital Black Sea ports.
“It is essential to protect the Ukrainian population and Ukrainian infrastructure from attacks by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in a statement. “It is also important to protect exports by sea of grain and other products, which generate crucial revenues for Ukraine.”
The aid includes funding for training Ukrainian soldiers as well as mine clearance operations.
Norway’s Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram said mines are a “significant threat” in the Black Sea and that the aid will help Ukrainian forces detect and defuse mines near the coast.
Ukraine’s military said Monday it shot down 27 of the 49 drones that Russian forces deployed in overnight attacks.
The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi and Sumy regions, the Ukrainian air force said.
Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said debris from a destroyed drone damaged power lines, but caused no casualties.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday its forces destroyed three Ukrainian aerial drones over the Kursk region.
Some information for this story was provided by Reuters.
