Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that “several” wounded North Korean soldiers had died after being captured by Ukrainian forces, as he accused Russia of throwing them into the war with “minimal protection”.
Ukraine and its Western allies say North Korea has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s military, in what Moscow sees as a major escalation in the nearly three-year war after a 2022 invasion .
“Today there were reports about several North Korean soldiers. Our troops managed to take them captive. But they were very seriously wounded and rescued,” Zelensky said in an address posted on social media in the evening. Couldn’t go.”
South Korea’s spy agency said earlier on Friday that a North Korean soldier captured while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine has died of wounds.
Zelensky did not say how many North Koreans died after being captured by Ukrainian troops.
Zelensky previously said about 3,000 North Korean troops have been “killed or wounded” so far since they engaged in combat with Russian forces in the western Kursk border area, where Ukraine suddenly invaded in August. .
South Korea’s intelligence service previously put the number of North Koreans killed or wounded at 1,000 and said the high casualty rate may be due to an unfamiliar battlefield environment and their lack of ability to counter drone attacks.
The White House on Friday confirmed South Korean estimates, saying Pyongyang’s troops were being sent to their deaths in futile attacks by generals who consider them “expendable.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, “We also have reports of North Korean soldiers taking their own lives rather than surrender to Ukrainian forces, possibly out of retaliation against their families in North Korea if captured.” Out of fear,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. ,
– Putin’s message to Kim –
North Korea and Russia have strengthened their military ties since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A landmark defense accord signed in June between Pyongyang and Moscow came into force this month, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it a “breakthrough document.”
North Korean state media said Friday that Putin sent a New Year’s message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying, “Bilateral relations between our two countries have grown after our talks in Pyongyang in June.”
Seoul’s military believes that North Korea wanted to modernize its conventional warfare capabilities through combat experience gained in the Russia–Ukraine War.
NATO chief Mark Rutte also said Moscow was providing support to Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programs in exchange for troops.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday that Pyongyang is reportedly “preparing troop rotation or additional deployment” and supplying “240 mm rocket launchers and 170 mm self-propelled artillery” to the Russian military. Is.
Seoul warned because of Pyongyang’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is currently suspended, said in November that Seoul was “not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons” to Kiev, breaking a long-standing ban on arms sales to active countries. There will be a major change in the policy that has been going on since. Confrontation.
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