North Korean forces are suffering heavy casualties on the front lines in the war between Russia and Ukraine, with about a thousand North Korean soldiers killed or wounded in the last week alone in Russia's Kursk region, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
This estimate far exceeds the numbers previously announced by US officials, Reuters points out.
“It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders do not spare these soldiers and are throwing them into desperate attacks on Ukrainian defense lines“, Kirby said, describing the attacks by North Korean soldiers as a massive, infantry assault based on tactics "human wave". The North Korean and Russian missions to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Kirby said U.S. President Joe Biden was likely to approve another military aid package for Ukraine in the coming days. Earlier this week, Biden condemned Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid over Christmas, and some Ukrainian cities have asked the U.S. Defense Department to continue military aid to Kiev.
On December 17, a U.S. military official said North Korea had suffered losses of several hundred soldiers in Russia's Kursk region. Asked about the ranks of the casualties, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they ranged from low-ranking officers to senior officers. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in Russia's Kursk region.