WP: North Korean Troops Make Easy Target For Ukraine

The Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers compared their destruction to a computer game at the easiest level.

At least 30 North Korean troops, deployed to bolster Russian forces in their war in Ukraine, have been wounded or killed in Russia's Kursk region. These forces have made an easy target for Kyiv, writes The Washington Post .

Ukrainian authorities published the information about the DPRK losses yesterday. This information marked a significant turning point after months of speculation over what role Pyongyang's troops might play in the war.

The Pentagon later said it has “indications” that North Korean troops “have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded.”

Three Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the Kursk region, where Kyiv seized a swath of territory in August, described waves of what appeared to be North Korean troops flooding the battlefield in full view of Ukrainian drones and other weaponry in recent days. Two said they witnessed North Korean troop movements in real time via drone and a third, who oversees reconnaissance in the region, reviewed extensive drone footage captured by fellow troops.

Another Ukrainian military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that North Korean troops had appeared on the battlefield near Kursk in recent days. He also said that another battalion of such troops was in the neighboring Belgorod region, but it had not yet been sent to the front lines. Now the Ukrainian military is waiting to see whether this battalion will be transferred to reinforce positions in the Kursk region, or perhaps to the Kharkiv region, which borders Belgorod.

Ukrainian military officials noted that the groups of troops in the Kursk region were not similar to the Russian ones in their organization. “Russian troops usually move in small groups and stay near forests to avoid our artillery strikes. But these troops were not afraid to move across open fields,” said the commander of a Ukrainian drone unit with the call sign “Boxer”.

“The North Koreans are running across the fields, and there are so many of them. They do not understand what is happening,” he noted. “I don’t know if it’s because they’re ignorant or if the Russians are deliberately sending them into these conditions. It’s hard to say.”

The commander added that the attacks began on Saturday, and similar groups of troops continued to advance on Sunday:

“FPV drones, artillery and other weapons hit them as they were moving across an open field. You can imagine the result. We were very surprised: we’ve never seen anything like this, when 40-50 people just run across a field. It’s a perfect target for our artillery and Mavic operators. The Russians don’t act like that.”

Attack drone operator Artem said his unit saw three groups of 30-40 people moving toward Ukraine. “They had backpacks with them, probably with ammunition, and also weapons,” he said. “We immediately sent in FPV drones and bombers. They weren’t running from the drones, they were just shooting at them.”

“The others just keep moving, and many of them die,” Artem said. “They are different from the Russians, who have learned to run or hide from drones. The North Koreans shoot randomly, standing still.”

Artem also described an attack in which he used a thermal imaging camera to spot three soldiers. “We thought we would only hit one, but because of their hesitation, the strike hit all three,” he said. “It was a strange experience. For the first time, I felt like I was playing a computer game on easy difficulty.”

Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign “Finn,” said the videos that show the soldiers’ behavior are important, but still do not provide direct evidence that they are North Korean.

One video posted on Telegram shows a Russian and North Korean soldier in a dugout discussing the drone attack. “Maybe we should kill him and take his gun?” one of the Russians says, laughing.

A North Korean soldier comments on drone activity: “The drone just keeps flying!”

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