North Korea has suffered more than 6,000 casualties during offensive operations in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, according to a June 15 report from the United Kingdom’s defense intelligence.
According to the report, North Korea's losses account for more than half of the approximately 11,000 troops initially deployed to Kursk in fall 2024.
U.K. intelligence attributed the high casualty rate to large, highly attritional dismounted assaults.
Open source intelligence reports have also suggested that small numbers of additional North Korea troops have been deployed to make up for the losses.
Earlier this year, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that North Korea transferred approximately 3,000 additional soldiers to Russia in January and February.
North Korea has emerged as a key military ally of Russia through its invasion of Ukraine, supplying Moscow with artillery shells, missiles, and even soldiers in exchange for oil products and advanced military technology, such as ballistic missile upgrades.
In April 2025, Russia confirmed for the first time that North Korean forces were fighting alongside Russian troops in Kursk, although North Korean troops have been reportedly involved since fall 2024.
Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024, marking the first large-scale invasion of Russian territory by foreign forces since World War II. The operation aimed to disrupt a planned Russian offensive on the neighboring Sumy Oblast and draw Russian forces away from the embattled Donbas region.
Russia launched a push to recapture the region in early March 2025, with Ukraine being forced to pull back from much of the initially taken territory.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
