North Korean troop losses mount in Russia amidst reinforcements
According to data from mid-January, North Korean forces fighting against Ukraine in Russia's Kursk region may have lost approximately 4,000 soldiers. "Of these, approximately a quarter were killed in action," explained the latest intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence.
The British assessed that the North Korean contingent, consisting of about 11,000 soldiers, lost one-third of its personnel.
Kim's troops crushed near Kursk
"The high rate of DRPK losses in a short time period has almost significantly deteriorated DRPK forces' capacity to conduct offensive combat operations" - stated in the announcement on the X platform.
Despite the significant losses, the North Korean troops achieved only tactical superiority in the Kursk region. Another issue is their cooperation with the Russian army.
"Russian and DRPK forces are almost certainely experiencing interoperability difficulties. The two forces do not share a common language, and DRPK troops almost certainly have difficulties integrating into Russia's command-and-control structure" - noted in the report.
Ukrainian troops entered the Kursk region on August 6, 2024. The aim of the offensive was to force the Russians to redeploy some of their forces from Donbas.
Another group of Koreans heading to Russia
It turned out that another group of North Korean military personnel would arrive in Russia. "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided to send more soldiers to Russia to participate in the war against Ukraine after losing several thousand troops," informed the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea, cited by Yonhap.
According to the collected data, North Korea plans to send reinforcements to Russia within the next two months. However, neither the Pentagon nor the JCS specified the number of soldiers involved.
