Ukraine says North Korean troops back on front line

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that North Korean troops, previously reported to have withdrawn last month from the Kursk region front in western Russia due to heavy casualties, have returned. In his video address on Friday, Zelenskyy pointed out that Russian forces have redeployed North Korean soldiers to parts of the areas occupied by Ukraine to carry out "new attacks." This redeployment suggests a continued reliance on foreign support to bolster Russian military efforts.

Zelenskyy added that "hundreds of Russian and North Korean military personnel" have been "eliminated." In January, Western officials disclosed to the BBC that they believed at least 1,000 of the 11,000 soldiers sent from North Korea in the past three months had been killed. Currently, North Korea and Russia have not commented on this. The lack of official statements from either country leaves the claims unverified.

The BBC reported last week that Ukrainian special forces operating in Kursk stated that they had not detected any North Korean troops in the area in the past 21 days. A spokesperson suggested that they may have been withdrawn due to significant combat losses. The spokesperson added that he was only referring to the area where his forces were operating, without providing detailed information about the duration of the presence on that front. This discrepancy highlights the fluid and localized nature of the conflict.

Recent reports from South Korean intelligence indicate that North Korean soldiers are ill-prepared for modern warfare and particularly vulnerable to Ukrainian drone attacks. Military experts suggest that if North Korean soldier casualties continue to increase at this rate, it will be unsustainable. These soldiers were deployed to the region after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un deepened bilateral relations, including signing security and defense treaties. The deployment underscores the growing military cooperation between the two nations.

Pyongyang's assistance to Moscow now also extends to significant quantities of ammunition and weapons. These troops are also believed to be used to bolster Russia's combat forces, which have suffered significant losses. The Russian military has not publicly disclosed its battlefield casualties since September 2022, when they stated that 5,937 soldiers had been killed. However, the Ukrainian president stated this week that as many as 350,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, and other reports suggest that the number may be much higher. Zelenskyy put Ukraine's military casualties at 45,100, but some Ukrainian and Western military experts believe the losses are much higher. The varying casualty figures underscore the difficulty in accurately assessing the war's toll.

Six months ago, Ukrainian forces launched a lightning offensive in Kursk, seizing over 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory. Since then, Russian forces have managed to recapture much of the area. However, Zelenskyy told Reuters on Friday that Ukraine launched a new offensive in Kursk on Thursday, advancing 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles). The Russian military stated that the Ukrainian attacks had been repelled. Claims from either side of the conflict have not been independently verified. The conflicting reports highlight the ongoing struggle for territorial control.

Other important developments include: the Russian military stating that its forces have captured Toretsk, a key town in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, but a Ukrainian military spokesperson stated that fighting was still ongoing in the industrial hub. U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he "will probably be meeting with President Zelenskyy sometime next week, and I'll probably be talking to President Putin. I want to see that war ended." Trump's potential involvement suggests a renewed diplomatic effort to resolve the conflict.