Some of the North Korean soldiers deployed to fight for Russia have already been killed, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Kyodo News on Dec. 1 without revealing their numbers.
Pyongyang is said to have dispatched between 10,000-12,000 troops to aid Moscow's war, with the first clashes with Ukrainian forces reported in Russia's western Kursk Oblast.
Speaking to the Japanese news agency, Zelensky said that Russia is treating the first batch of North Korean soldiers well to attract tens of thousands more.
Ukraine's head of state predicted that Pyongyang's forces would eventually be used as "cannon fodder" to decrease losses among the Russian military. He also warned of negative security impacts for Asia as Russia is teaching North Korean troops the methods of modern warfare, including drone use.
Separately, a Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson told the media that 2,000 North Korean troops have been assigned to Russia's Marine and airborne units fighting on the front.
"If they (North Korean troops) have joined units engaged in active hostilities, then we can confidently say that they have joined the fight," spokesperson Andrii Cherniak told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, adding that this might not necessarily mean deployment on front-line positions.
"Maybe they are not in advanced positions, but they enable aggression against Ukraine, ensure the killing of Ukrainian service members."
North Korea is Russia's leading ally in its war against Ukraine, reportedly providing Moscow with over 100 ballistic missiles and 5 million artillery shells. In exchange, Pyongyang is believed to receive economic support and assistance for its nuclear weapons program.
Olena Goncharova
(Updated: )
