North Korean soldiers are facing losses and severe difficulties, including a lack of drinking water, according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR).
On Dec. 20, a strike by Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces on a concentration of DPRK forces in the vicinity of Novoivanivka, Kursk region, resulted in significant casualties among North Korean troops, both killed and wounded.
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On the same day, assault units of the North Korean army suffered at least five additional casualties in another area.
“However, Russian officers ordered them to hold their positions,” HUR reported.
On Dec. 21, Russian forces continued supplying North Korean units with ammunition and provisions to compensate for their losses and sustain their offensive operations. Moreover, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) units of the Russian Armed Forces provide support and escort for North Korean assault groups operating in the Kursk region.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 26, 2024
The following day, Dec. 22, Ukrainian forces carried out a successful strike on a key communications hub of the North Korean army, significantly reducing radio communication among their troops.
According to HUR, North Korean units deployed in the Dar’ino-Novoivanovka area of the Kursk region, involved in the war against Ukraine, fired mortars and automatic grenade launchers on Dec. 24, using drones for targeting adjustments.
“Enemy units frequently change positions and remain approximately one kilometer from the front line,” HUR said.
Additionally, North Korean soldiers have established at least five new observation posts, code-named “Mezha 1-5,” to enhance reconnaissance. HUR also reported the destruction of a mortar team from one of the North Korean army’s units.
On the front lines, North Korean soldiers are grappling with an acute shortage of drinking water due to logistical challenges.
More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia’s war with Ukraine, South Korea said on Dec. 23, while Kyiv estimated over 3,000 casualties.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) stated: “We assess that North Korean troops who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces have suffered around 1,100 casualties,” citing “various sources of information and intelligence.”
Pyongyang has deployed thousands of soldiers to support Russia, including in the Kursk region, and is reportedly preparing further rotations. North Korea is also supplying self-destructible drones to Moscow, according to Seoul.
An intercepted conversation earlier released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reveals the impact of the Ukrainian Defense Forces on North Korean units in the Kursk region.
In the recording, a nurse from a Moscow-region hospital tells a soldier fighting against Ukraine in the Kharkiv region, presumed to be her husband, about the arrival of wounded North Korean fighters. The nurse criticizes the preferential treatment given to DPRK troops, including clearing hospital wards for them, leaving Russian soldiers in poorer conditions.
She says that if North Korean fighters ask her for anesthetic injections, she plans to refuse. “‘Go to hell,’ I’ll tell them. ‘I don’t understand what you’re saying,’” the nurse says over the phone, adding that communication with the DPRK troops is nearly impossible, as the North Korean soldiers don’t speak Russian.
She mentions a hospital directive forbidding English communication with the DPRK soldiers, reportedly because of their alliance with Russia.
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