ISW: North Korean troops confirmed in combat operations in Russia’s Kursk Oblast

North Korean troops have been confirmed to be actively participating in combat operations in Russia's Kursk Oblast, with casualties reported, according to US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

Speaking on December 16, Kirby revealed that US intelligence had observed North Korean soldiers moving from secondary positions to the frontlines in the region over the past several days, Caliber.Az reports citing the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder also confirmed that North Korean personnel have been killed or wounded, though specific casualty figures were not provided.

This marks a significant development, as Russian official sources have so far refrained from acknowledging the deployment of North Korean troops to the front lines. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine suggested on December 16 that Russia is attempting to conceal the scale of losses among North Korean soldiers.

He claimed that Russian forces have been burning the faces of slain North Korean troops to conceal their identity and have prohibited them from showing their faces during training. Additionally, Zelenskyy accused the Russian military of trying to erase video evidence of North Korean soldiers operating on Russian soil.

Ukrainian military intelligence sources have also indicated that the Russian forces have gone to great lengths to disguise North Korean troops as soldiers from the Russian Republic of Buryatia, a tactic that further complicates the identification of foreign forces involved in the conflict.

Despite these reports, Russian authorities and state media have not yet acknowledged the presence of North Korean forces in Russia or their participation in military operations.

Analysts believe the Kremlin will likely continue to avoid discussing the issue, as such an admission would highlight Russia’s dependence on foreign troops, undermining President Vladimir Putin's narrative of increasing domestic recruitment to bolster Russia's military efforts.

As reported earlier, North Korean soldiers have been killed during clashes with Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk border region, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence and the Pentagon.

These fatalities are the first reported since the US and Ukraine revealed that North Korea had deployed between 10,000 and 12,000 troops to Russia to assist in its nearly three-year-long war.

The update came as the White House stated that it now believes North Korean forces are on the "front lines" of Russia's war and are "actively involved in combat operations" against Ukraine.

National security spokesman John Kirby confirmed this assessment on December 16, after the Ukrainian government reported that North Korean troops had moved from support roles to direct combat on Russia's behalf. Kirby stated that North Korean soldiers were suffering casualties in the fighting and assured a strong sanctions response from the US and its allies.

By Aghakazim Guliyev