Ukraine says North Korea troops not had major impact yet on fighting

KYIV, Ukraine — The presence of North Korean soldiers alongside Russian troops in the Russian region of Kursk has not yet had a major impact on the course of the fighting, a Ukrainian military intelligence official told AFP on Tuesday.

According to Kyiv, 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including "about 500 officers and three generals", are engaged in the border region, which has been partly occupied by Ukrainian forces since August.

Neither Russian nor North Korea has ever confirmed their engagement on the frontlines.

"The involvement of the North Koreans in the fighting has not had a significant impact on the situation. It is not such a significant number of personnel," Yevgen Yerin, spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence service (GUR), told AFP.

He said North Korea troops have little experience of modern warfare, particularly with drones, and use tactics that are "primitive, linked, frankly speaking, more to the times of the Second World War."

"But they are also learning. And we cannot underestimate the enemy. And we can see that they are already taking some things into account in their activities," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been "killed or wounded" so far.

South Korea reported 1,100 killed or wounded on Monday, and said North Korea appears to be preparing to send new units to Russia as reinforcements or to relieve those already fighting, as well as drones.