North Korean soldiers suffer heavy losses as they advance into Kursk

North Korean troops have reportedly been in the Kursk region for weeks. However, there was no confirmation of their presence. That has changed, the North Koreans have attacked. Exactly where it was supposed to be. They attacked the northwestern corner of the Ukrainian invasion near Kursk.

At first there were only very blurry images of the attack, but later better quality images of the fallen were added. The attacking troops took a completely different approach than the Russians. They have now developed very detailed and sophisticated tactics for an infantry assault.

Before an attack, the Russians work their way towards the enemy’s positions in small infiltration groups. They use the night, the cover of tree lines and fire raids to move forward as undetected as possible. If they are discovered, they hide and fight drones from behind cover. The actual assault groups are only brought in once the enemy has been defeated by artillery and drones.

The North Koreans, on the other hand, left their vehicles at the edge of a field, fanned out and moved across the snow-covered field without cover. There they were then attacked by Ukrainian drones and mortars. The North Koreans attacked with several groups of about 40 people. A Russian assault group only consists of about 12 people. 40 men correspond to a platoon, and there can hardly be any question of a mass attack.

The Ukrainian armed forces describe the approach as inexperienced and find it difficult to explain the tactics. There are very different information about the losses. The “Wall Street Journal” reported 30 dead and seriously wounded – citing Ukrainian military intelligence. The AP news agency speaks of “hundreds” and cites unspecified sources in the military.

The “WSJ” gives shocking details. According to Ukrainian soldiers, the North Koreans are not prepared for this kind of war. They don’t look for cover, but shoot at the drones in the open field – which is very rarely successful. The dead had no protective vests whatsoever. The soldiers are said to have stood so close together that a grenade dropped by a drone resulted in several deaths. The deceased were laid out in a long line, directly in the zone of action of the Ukrainian drones.

All in all, a disaster – according to the Ukrainian account. The Ukrainian drone unit claims that not one of the North Korean soldiers reached the Ukrainian positions. But what is striking is that Kyiv can only provide drone images. The Ukrainians were unable to capture a single injured person or recover a dead body as evidence.

A clear indication that the attack as a whole did not collapse and that the North Koreans did not have to fall back to their initial position. Further videos of drone attacks by the Ukrainians also show that the attackers were actually able to advance and push the Ukrainian defenders out of two woods. The Ukrainians attacked them at the end of the water reservoir near the village of Kruglen’koe. That was the situation on the night of December 16th to 17th. The Russians or their allies have probably taken the village by now.

The operation is another attempt to cut off the northern part of the Kursk Peak. The Russians were also able to advance on the eastern side. The Ukrainians were able to inflict casualties on the North Koreans, but were unable to stop them. Nor can it be assumed that Kiev’s soldiers gave up the important rows of trees without any casualties of their own. Finally, the advance suggests that it was not a pure infantry attack, but that the infantry’s assault was accompanied by their own artillery and drones.

Videos suggest a clarity that they do not have. Thousands of drones are in use every day, many soldiers have body cameras, and so do the vehicles. A few recordings are selected from this infinite wealth. Of course, those who show their own successes. This gives the impression that Russian attacks are either collapsing under the Ukrainian fire or are only making progress with very high losses. Kyiv understandably does not show the successful Russian actions.

According to Russian bloggers, the North Koreans are said to have successfully stormed the village of Plekhovo on December 6th. Kyiv was forced to abandon the village, but there are no videos of the attack. Moscow does not want to distribute images of North Koreans.

In the end, Ukraine has once again lost two zones of its small conquest. At least one North Korean attack came under fire and they probably lost around 30 men – maybe more. If the two Russian advance forceps succeed in gaining ground like this again, the slightly larger settlement of Malaya Loknya will be cut off and with it all the Ukrainians who are to the north. In the military’s cruel logic, the losses so far are acceptable.