Russia-Ukraine War: At Least 600 North Korean Soldiers Killed While Fighting for Russia

At least 600 North Korean troops have been killed and thousands injured in fighting on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine, as per the Seoul lawmaker, who revealed data on Wednesday, April 30. This came after Pyongyang officially confirmed that troops would be deployed to aid Moscow in the ongoing war. As per the North Korean MP Lee Seong-kweun, 4,700 troops were injured, including over 600 fatalities. 

“So far, North Korean troop injuries are estimated at around 4,700, including approximately 600 deaths,” Lee Seong-kweun, a member of Parliament’s intelligence committee, told reporters after a briefing by the country’s spy agency.

South Korea's intelligence agency reports that North Korean troops deployed to Russia have suffered approximately 4,700 casualties, including around 600 fatalities, per Raphael Rashid.

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For the first time on April 28, North Korea announced that it had deployed troops to Russia, with state news agency KCNA reporting Pyongyang’s soldiers helped Moscow reclaim territory under Ukrainian control in the Russian border region of Kursk. 

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Russia also officially confirmed later that the North Korean soldiers are participating in the war against Ukraine. Some 2,000 soldiers have been taken back to nuclear-armed North Korea in 2025, Lee said, and were now reportedly being held in isolation in Pyongyang and at other locations across the country. “It is understood that the bodies of fallen soldiers were cremated locally in Kursk before being transported,” back to the North, he added.

North Korea “supported Russia’s recapture of Kursk by deploying 18,000 troops in two phases,” Mr Lee said, adding that the number of clashes in the area had decreased since around March.