Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded in Russia's Kursk region and warned that Pyongyang may send more personnel and equipment to Moscow's army.
“There is a risk that North Korea will send additional troops and military equipment to the Russian army,” Zelensky said on X after receiving a report from his top military commander, Oleksandr Syrski.
“We will have a tangible answer to this,” Zelensky said.
The estimate of North Korean losses is higher than that given by Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), which said on Monday that at least 1,100 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded.
The assessment was consistent with a briefing last week by South Korea's spy agency, which said about 100 people had been killed and another 1,000 injured in the region.
Zelensky said he cited preliminary data. Reuters could not independently verify the combat loss reports.
According to reports, 12,000 troops have already been deployed
Russia neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Koreans on its side. Pyongyang initially dismissed reports of the troop deployment as “fake news,” but a North Korean official said such a deployment would be legal.
According to estimates by Ukraine and allies, North Korea sent about 12,000 to Russia. soldiers.
Some of them were sent to fight in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukraine still holds a piece of land after a major cross-border attack in August.
The JCS added that it had detected signs that Pyongyang was planning to produce suicide drones to be sent to Russia, in addition to the 240 mm rocket launchers and 170 mm self-propelled howitzers already delivered.
Kiev continues to pressure allies to take a tougher response, arguing that Moscow and Pyongyang's transfer of war experience and military technology poses a global threat.
“For the world, the cost of restoring stability is always much higher than the cost of putting effective pressure on those who destabilize the situation and destroy lives,” Zelensky said.