Approximately 4,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded while fighting Ukrainian troops in Russia, with minimal battlefield gains to show for it, according to the UK Ministry of
UK Defence Intelligence has analysed that as of January 2025, North Korea has already lost about 4,000 military personnel in the Russian-Ukrainian war who took part in the fighting in Russiaʼs Kursk Oblast.
Britain's defense ministry said about 1,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed and about 3,000 more had been wounded fighting against Ukraine.
North Korea is likely preparing to send additional troops to Russia after suffering heavy losses in battles against Ukrainian forces, South Korea's military said Friday.
A few months ago, the South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence services revealed that North Korea had sent approximately 11,000 troops to fight on behalf of Russia. “As of mid-January 2025, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) forces had highly likely sustained around 4,
North Korea's disguised rocket launchers. North Korea has sent rocket launchers disguised as civilian trucks to Russia to support the combined Russian-North Korean force battling an incursion by Ukrainian troops.
A South Korean lawmaker said Seoul's intelligence showed some 3,000 North Korean troops have been wounded or killed in Kursk.
Budanov said North Korea has sent 120 self-propelled howitzers and 120 MLRS to Russia, and is likely to send the same number again.
A third of the troops North Korea deployed to western Russia’s Kursk Oblast late last year has been killed or wounded, according to Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky. Col. Ants Kiviselg, the head of the Estonian defense forces’ intelligence center, confirmed the claim.
Pyongyang's monthly troop losses could skyrocket if it deploys more troops to the frontlines in Kursk and continues sustaining high losses.
South Korea's military said on Friday that it suspects North Korea is preparing to send more troops to Russia to fight Ukrainian forces, even after suffering losses and seeing some of its soldiers captured.
It will mostly be missile and artillery troops who typically operate hundreds of tubed and rocket artillery systems as well as the KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles Pyongyang has already provided Moscow,