Six North Korean soldiers killed on Russian front: reports

Six North Korean soldiers were killed on the Russian front near the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Thursday, according to Ukrainian news.

Unnamed intelligence sources told the Kyiv Post and Interfax-Ukraine that over 20 military personnel, including six North Korean officers, were killed in a missile attack.

According to Russian Telegram channel Kremlin Snuffbox, three other North Korean officials were injured in the attack and were sent to Moscow for treatment.

The Kremlin Snuffbox quoted an anonymous military source who said that Russian soldiers were showing North Korean officers how Moscow was “preparing for offensive operations, for defense, how we counter American weapons” when they were attacked at a training range.

Newsweek asked the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry via email and the Russian government via an online form for comment on Saturday morning.

Last year, Ukraine's main intelligence agency, Kiev's military intelligence service, reported the arrival of some North Korean military personnel, including engineering personnel, in Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk.

Meanwhile, the Center of National Resistance – founded by the Ukrainian military's special forces – reported in September 2023 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had persuaded North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to send North Korean citizens to the Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions for construction work .

North Korea has been a key ally of Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine, which began when Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Kiev in February 2022, contesting Pyongyang.

In June, Putin made his first visit to North Korea in 24 years. During the trip, the Russian president and Kim signed a so-called “comprehensive strategic partnership pact” with a clause similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which essentially states that if one member state is attacked, it is an attack on all.

According to the text of the Russian-North Korean pact published by North Korean state media, one of the countries should “enter a state of war due to armed aggression,” the other “immediately provide military and other assistance using all available means.” his decree.”

When asked at a news conference in June about North Korea joining Russian forces in Donetsk, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said it was “certainly something to keep an eye on.”

“I think if I were in charge of North Korean military personnel, I would question my decision to send my troops as cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine,” he said.