Ukrainian intelligence officials stated on Monday (December 16) that at least 30 Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces were killed or injured over the past weekend in the frontline of the Kursk region in Russia.
This marks the first time Ukraine has released casualty reports involving Korean troops, according to Reuters. The incidents occurred near villages such as Plekhovo, Vorozhba, and Martynovka in the Kursk region.
Before the Ukrainian military intelligence agency issued this statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Saturday (14th) that Russia had deployed Korean troops in large numbers to launch attacks on Ukrainian forces in the Kursk stronghold.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the casualty figures.
The Kremlin has declined to comment on Ukraine’s claims and referred inquiries to the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense has not issued any comments on the matter.
So far, Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of Korean troops in Russia. Initially, Pyongyang dismissed reports of deploying troops to Russia as “fake news,” but a Korean official later stated that any such troop deployments were legitimate.
The Ukrainian intelligence agency wrote: “Due to heavy losses, reinforcement units are being deployed, especially personnel from the Korean Army’s 94th Separate Brigade, to continue the fight in the Kursk region.”
Kyiv had previously indicated that Korean troops appeared in the Kursk region of Russia in October this year. Ukraine estimates that around 11,000 Korean soldiers and tens of thousands of Russian troops are stationed in the region.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has seized control of nearly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
In August this year, Ukraine captured a pocket of land in the Kursk region.