North Korean soldiers with fake Russian military cards

North Korean soldiers with fake Russian military cards

soldiers from North Korea who fight for Russia received fake military documents with Russian names and birthplaces, according to the Ukrainian army. Against the background of allegations from Kiev, this happens that Russia tries to hide the presence of foreign fighters on the battlefield.

Ukrainian special operations: Use against North Korean soldiers

The Ukrainian special forces said on Sunday that they had killed three North Korean soldiers in the western region of Kursk, Russia and confiscated their documents. The military cards "missing all stamps and photos, the first names are given in the Russian style, and the place of birth is noted as a Republic of Tuwa," says the explanation, which refers to a Russian region in southern Siberia that borders on the Mongolia

indications of the origin of the soldiers

The signatures on the documents are in Korean, which "indicates the actual origin of these soldiers," added the explanation. This again confirms that Russia uses all means to hide its losses on the battlefield and to conceal the foreign presence.

estimates on the number of North Korean soldiers in Russia

According to estimates by US, Ukrainian and South Korean secret services, there are between 11,000 and 12,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia, some of whom have already been involved in combat operations alongside tens of Russian forces. This happens to recapture parts of Kursk, which was lost in August in the course of a Ukrainian offensive.

high losses among North Korean troops

The North Korean troops seem to have suffered high losses in the region, according to American and Ukrainian civil servants, while Kiev accused Russia of disguising the scope of their participation. A high-ranking US official reported "several hundred" victims-both killed and wounded soldiers-in Kursk since October. A South Korean legislator estimated that around 100 North Korean soldiers were killed and almost 1,000 injured since they were sent to Kursk.

catastrophic losses within a few days

The Ukrainian special forces reported on December 17 that 50 North Korean soldiers were killed in just three days and 47 were wounded while they fought alongside Russian troops in Kursk. A Ukrainian unit reported that North Koreans - in other uniforms than the Russians - carried out infantry attacks with "the same tactics as 70 years ago", apparently in allusion to the Korean War, in which waves of infantry were used.

official statements from Moscow and Pyongyang

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have ever officially recognized the presence of North Korean troops in Russia. The Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj has declared that Russia was trying to hide the losses of North Korean soldiers on the battlefield and use extreme tactics to obscure the identity of the North Korean soldiers falling in the fight.

"The Russians try ... literally to burn the faces of the North Korean soldiers who died in the battle," said Selenskyj on December 17th in an explanation on X, together with a video that allegedly shows Russian soldiers who set the corpses of North Korean soldiers.

speculation about the confidentiality of the losses

separately published a Ukrainian drone unit on December 15, a video that allegedly shows the corpses of more than 20 North Korean soldiers who were lined up in a icy field. However, the quality of the video was not good enough to verify her identity. Lt. Andriі Kovalenko, an official in the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said that the Ukrainian unity captured the film material before Russia was able to evacuate the corpses.

"You try to hide the participation of the North Koreans in certain operations as much as possible. Therefore, you usually put these corpses in a row, then come trace vehicles and bring them away," said Kovalo of the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.