North Korean soldiers are killing themselves to avoid capture in Ukraine, the US says

Russia is sending “human waves” of North Korean soldiers, the United States said Friday, and at least one soldier captured by Ukraine has died of his injuries.

Some North Korean soldiers have taken their own lives rather than surrender to Ukrainian forces, according to White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Those suicides were “probably done out of fear of reprisals against their families in North Korea if they were captured,” he said.

South Korean intelligence confirmed on Friday that the North Korean soldier captured the day before had died.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement on Telegram on Friday that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers had died or been wounded in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched a lightning attack in August.

But Russia has since massed thousands of troops in a counterattack.

Kirby cited a lower death toll among North Koreans and said more than 1,000 soldiers had died in the past week alone.

That’s in addition to more than 1,500 Russian soldiers being wounded or killed every day, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense, which estimated the death toll in November at over 45,000, the highest since the start of the war, adding that the figure was “probably” be This reflects the higher tempo of Russian operations and offensives.

To supplement its counterattack, Moscow turned to its ally Pyongyang, which the United States and its allies estimated had an estimated 11,000 troops stationed in Ukraine.

Kirby said the North Koreans conducted “massive, dismounted attacks on Ukrainian positions in Kursk.” Although this “human wave tactic” was ineffective, he acknowledged that Russia’s fierce attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure made it difficult for Ukrainians to survive the winter.

Neither Russia nor North Korea have publicly acknowledged the troop deployment.

North Korean troops were treated as “expendable” and ordered by their leadership to carry out “hopeless attacks on Ukrainian defenses,” Kirby said.

“These North Korean soldiers appear to be highly indoctrinated and are pushing for attacks even when it is clear that these attacks are pointless,” he said.

While the exact number of North Korean soldiers who have killed themselves to avoid capture is unclear, Zelensky said Friday that “several” North Korean soldiers had been captured but “were seriously wounded and could not be revived.” “. They may also have been killed by comrades.

Those troops were sent into battle with “minimal protection,” he said, and suffered “huge” losses.

Still, the Ukrainians failed to capture them as prisoners, he added. “Their own people are executing them.”