Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in a post on X that “initial reports” suggest that Russia is trying to conceal the losses of North Korean personnel.”

He said that the Russians tried to “erase any video evidence” of the soldiers’ presence and “literally burn the faces of North Korean soldiers killed in battle.”

“There is not a single reason for North Koreans to fight and die for Putin and even after they do, Russia has only humiliation for them.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Zelenskyy made the comment after Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and the Pentagon said that Ukrainian forces have killed and injured a number of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.

Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, known as GUR, said that North Korean army units had suffered “significant losses” with “at least 30 soldiers” killed and wounded in Kursk near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorobzha and Martynovka.

Speaking to journalists in Washington, DC, Pentagon Spokesperson, Major General Pat Ryder backed up the Ukrainian army’s claim, saying the United States had found “indications” North Korean soldiers had been “killed and injured” in combat in Kursk.

According to South Korean, US and Ukrainian intelligence, an estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia to fight on the front lines against Ukrainian forces.

Most of the North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region, which has been under partial Ukrainian control since Kyiv’s surprise incursion into Russian territory in August.

Analysts claim that the North Korean troops face potential challenges including a lack of combat experience and language barriers.

Their reported deployment has not been officially acknowledged by Pyongyang or Moscow.

However, the two countries have openly deepened their military ties in recent months.

A landmark mutual defence treaty, first signed in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024, during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lavish state visit, obliges both countries to provide immediate military assistance to each other using “all means” necessary if either faces “aggression.”

Ukrainian President Urges Allies To Sanction Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’

Moreover, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy made comments on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.

In a post on X, the Ukrainian President appealed to allies to sanction vessels carrying illicit oil as he called an oil spillage caused by a Russian tanker in the Black Sea on Sunday, December 15, 2024, an “environmental disaster.”

“But there are even larger and more dangerous Russian tankers operating in your seas. Stopping this fleet is not just about cutting off Russia’s war funding – it’s about protecting nature.

“I urge everyone to take even stronger action. Ensure these shadow tanker fleet and other Russian vessels, including those transporting weapons, can no longer operate in European waters.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has sanctioned 20 ships that it said were using illicit practices to avoid sanctions on Russian oil.

The government revealed that the vessels sanctioned include Ocean Faye, Andaman Skies and Mianzimu, which have each carried more than four million barrels of Russian oil this year.

The latest measures targeting Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of vessels restrict or prohibit their movement and access to some British ports.

British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, was quoted by a news agaency as saying, “As Putin’s oil revenues continue to fuel the fires of his illegal war, Ukrainian families are enduring cold, dark nights, often without heating, light or electricity, targeted by Russia’s relentless missile attacks.”

These sanctions, he stressed, will add further pressure to Putin’s stalling war economy.

Starmer also announced 35 million pounds ($44m) of emergency support to help Ukraine repair its energy grid.