Zelensky says more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers killed, injured fighting for Russia
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of the “risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army”.
PHOTO: AFP
KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec 23 that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded fighting against Ukraine’s incursion in Russia’s Kursk region.
Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to reinforce the Russian military, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August.
Mr Zelensky wrote on X that “according to preliminary data, the number of North Korean soldiers killed and wounded in the Kursk region has already exceeded 3,000”.
South Korea said earlier on Dec 23 that around 1,100 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded since entering combat in December.
The Ukrainian President said he had received a report from army commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky on the situation in the Kursk region and warned of the “risks of North Korea sending additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army”.
Mr Zelensky said the world needs to understand that “growing cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang” leads to a proportionate increase in “risk of destabilisation around the Korean Peninsula and in neighbouring regions or waters”. AFP