North Korea troops fighting for Putin ‘could all be dead or wounded by April’ as casualties mount
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North Korean troops have suffered thousands of casualties in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Ukrainian estimates. All of the roughly 12,000 North Korean troops fighting with Russian forces may be dead or wounded by mid-April, a leading war monitor has said.
![[Thousands of North Korean troops are fighting in Russia’s Kursk region]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/17/09/d29faed179234eb4bd38c83f88fb0ab4.jpg)
North Korean troops have suffered an estimated 92 casualties every day since significant fighting in Russia’s border Kursk region began in early December, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in early January that 3,800 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in Kursk, where Russia is trying to reclaim territory following Kyiv’s lightning offensive last August and a second push late last year.
![[Sir Keir and Mr Zelensky attend a presentation of Ukrainian military drones on Thursday]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/17/06/GettyImages-2193595135.jpg)
"The entire North Korean contingent of roughly 12,000 personnel currently in Kursk Oblast may be killed or wounded in action by mid-April 2025 should North Korean forces continue to suffer from their current high loss rate in the future,” the ISW said.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said at the start of this week that 300 North Koreans have been killed and 2,700 wounded in Kursk. “North Korean forces will likely continue to suffer a larger ratio of wounded to killed in action – as is typical for armed conflict – and it is unclear if or when injured North Korean soldiers return to combat,” the ISW said.
