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There are losses in the war in Ukraine on both sides. According to Zelenskyj, many North Korean soldiers were also killed in the fighting in Kursk. (archive image) © Francisco Seco/AP/dpa
North Korean soldiers have been in Russia since October. It seems that Moscow is expanding its deployment on the front – with disastrous consequences.
Kursk – Heavy fighting continues in the Russian border region of Kursk. In the middle: soldiers from North Korea. At least that’s what Volodymyr Zelenskyj announced now. “According to the preliminary information, the Russians have started to use soldiers from North Korea in attacks – and on a significant scale,” the Ukrainian president said. Accordingly, the Russian army deployed North Koreans in mixed units in Korsk during the Ukrainian war.
“The losses in this category are already significant,” Zelensky added. He did not give any numbers. Zelenskyj accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of deliberately widening the war against Ukraine and ignoring calls from China and Brazil to do everything possible to de-escalate. The Ukrainian army began an attack in Kursk in August.
North Korean troops support Putin’s Russia in the war in Ukraine
The first reports of North Korean soldiers being sent to Russia emerged in October. At the beginning of November, Ukraine reported for the first time that these soldiers were involved in combat. According to Zelenskyj, the North Koreans are now largely integrated in the Russian units and they could soon appear on other sectors of the front.
According to the Ukrainian president, Pyongyang had moved 11,000 soldiers to Kursk. The US and South Korea put the number of North Koreans stationed in Russia at 10,000. It is not clear to what extent they are already involved in attacks on the Ukrainian army. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said three weeks ago that he expected the North Koreans to engage in hostilities “soon”. However, the US State Department said on November 13 that Pyongyang’s troops had already started fighting.
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Zelensky accuses Putin of escalating the war in Ukraine
Zelensky said Russia had entered a “new phase” with the Ukraine war and the deployment of troops from North Korea. “If this is not an escalation, what is the escalation that so many are talking about?” he asked, referring to Ukraine’s demand for more support to protect Putin’s troops.
The Ukrainian army had to give up a large part of the suppressed area during its offensive in Kursk. Like the news agency AFP As we learned from Ukrainian military circles in November, about 800 square kilometers were still under Ukrainian control at that time. According to its own statement, Ukraine previously had 1,400 square kilometers in the Kursk region. (AFP/dpa/cs)
