Russian Troops Who Refuse New Contracts Told They’re Next for Kursk’s ‘Meat Grinder’

Russian soldiers who refuse to renew their contracts with the Ministry of Defense are being threatened with being deployed to the Kursk region, according to a report from the Atesh guerrilla movement.

The partisans say that soldiers, especially those in the 64th Infantry Brigade, are under pressure to sign new contracts, often for a minimum three-year term. Those who refuse to renew the agreements are threatened with deployment to the most dangerous areas of the frontline.

“At the same time, the command opaquely hints at how their path will end there [in the Kursk region] — they would be ‘wiped out in the meat assaults’,” the report read.

Ukraine launched a shock cross-border offensive into Kursk in August of 2024, and since then, has been holding swathes of territory it captured in the largest incursion of foreign forces into Russia since World War II.

In mid-October, Ukraine and South Korea both claimed that Pyongyang had deployed troops to aid Moscow’s forces in the Kursk region, likely as a result of a mutual defense pact signed in June.

Ukrainian officials announced on Jan. 11 that Ukrainian forces had captured the first North Korean (DPRK) soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops in the Kursk region. Russian and DPRK troops have often finished off wounded North Korean comrades in an attempt to eliminate evidence of Pyongyang’s involvement in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.

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The first soldier was captured on Jan. 9 by Ukraine 84th Special Forces Tactical Group, and the second by Ukrainian paratroopers. Both were transferred to Kyiv, where they are being held under conditions that comply with the requirements of international law.

According to the British Ministry of Defence’s Jan. 24 report on X, North Korean forces have suffered significant casualties during offensive operations against Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, with the numbers of killed and wounded reaching 4,000 by mid-January.

The report said the total casualty rate to more than a third of the approximately 11,000 North Korean troops that originally deployed to the region with around a quarter of these being soldiers killed in action.