**North Korean Troops Suffer Heavy Losses in Russia**
Western officials have told the BBC that North Korean troops fighting in Russia’s Kursk region have suffered nearly 40% casualties in just three months. The officials said that out of an estimated 11,000 troops sent from North Korea, 4,000 were battle casualties.
This means that around 1,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been killed by mid-January. The losses are unsustainable for the North Koreans. It is not clear where the wounded soldiers are being treated or when they will be replaced.
**High Cost for Russia’s Allies**
The figures show a high cost being incurred by President Vladimir Putin‘s ally, Kim Jong Un, as he seeks to help him evict Ukrainian forces from Russia ahead of any possible ceasefire negotiations later in the year. Ukraine launched a lightning thrust into the Russian oblast of Kursk last August, taking Russian border guards by surprise.
**North Korean Troops Under-Prepared**
The North Korean troops, reportedly from an “elite” unit called the Storm Corps, appear to have been thrown into the fight with little training or protection. Former British Army tank commander Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: “These are barely trained troops led by Russian officers who they don’t understand.”
**Ukraine Still in Control**
Despite the heavy losses, Ukraine still retains several hundred square kilometers of Russian territory and is inflicting huge losses on its enemy. Ukrainian top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi warned that North Korean soldiers were posing a significant problem for Ukrainian fighters on the front line.
Read More @ www.bbc.com