NYT: North Korean soldiers withdrawn from Kursk front line due to heavy losses, may return
www.pravda.com.ua
Fri, 31 Jan 2025 11:25:58 +0200
The New York Times, citing officials from Ukraine and the US, reported that North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine were pulled from the front line in Kursk Oblast after suffering heavy losses.
Source The New York Times Quote The North Korean troops, sent to bolster Russian forces trying to push back a Ukrainian offensive inside Russias borders, have not been seen at the front for about two weeks, the officials said after requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive military and intelligence matters.
Details 11,000 North Korean soldiers arrived in Russia in November, but according to Oleksandr Syrskyi, the CommanderinChief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, their numbers have halved in just three months. An unnamed Ukrainian official explained that the disorganisation within the North Korean ranks and their lack of coordination with Russian units quickly led to significant losses. Sources among officials and military personnel reported that upon arriving on the battlefield, North Korean soldiers were left to fend for themselves, advancing with minimal armoured vehicles and rarely halting to regroup or retreat.
Quote Many of the soldiers are among North Koreas besttrained special operations troops, but the Russians appear to have used them as foot soldiers, sending them forth in waves across fields studded with land mines to be mowed down by heavy Ukrainian fire.
The publication, citing US officials, reports that the decision to withdraw North Korean troops from the front line may not be permanent.
They suggest that the North Koreans could be redeployed after additional training or once the Russians develop new strategies to deploy them, aiming to prevent further heavy losses.
Background On 9 January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that North Korean forces fighting alongside Russian troops against the Ukrainian military have sustained 4,000 casualties, both killed and wounded in action.
On 13 January, South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing the intelligence, reported that at least 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and another 2,700 wounded in the war against Ukraine.
On 23 January, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War indicated that the new deployment of North Korean troops will sustain the current pace of infantry assaults in Russias Kursk Oblast.
However, they are likely to suffer comparable losses, with 30,000 to 45,000 killed and injured per month.
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