It is unclear how many North Korean soldiers are fighting on Russia's side against Ukraine. According to President Zelensky, North Koreans have now been taken prisoner of war but have died from their wounds.
Ukrainian soldiers managed to capture North Korean military personnel, President Zelensky confirmed in his evening speech. However, the soldiers succumbed to their serious injuries and could no longer be revived.
Zelensky accused Russia and North Korea of deliberately killing North Korean soldiers so that they would not become Ukrainian prisoners of war. The North Korean guards and the Russian army have no interest in their survival, Zelensky said. In his speech, the president called on China to exert influence on its neighbor North Korea so that the war does not escalate further.
There had previously been media reports about a North Korean soldier being captured in Russia's Kursk region. Parts of this area have been controlled by Ukraine since the summer.
“They’re treated like human material”
North Korea is said to have sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Kursk to support Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine. There have been several reports of high casualties among North Korean soldiers. Zelenskyj spoke of more than 3,000 wounded or dead. John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said last week alone the North Korean army lost 1,000 soldiers in the fight against Ukraine.
German security expert Nico Lange believes the North Koreans were ill-prepared for their mission: “They're treated like human material, and the Russians just use that to send them into minefields, send them into drone fire and do all these things. ” Basically, the North Koreans would have a similar role to that of the criminals released from Russian prisons.
More serious attacks in the Donetsk region
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army remains under pressure at the front, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region. The Ukrainian General Staff speaks of tactical successes by the Russian army near the city of Pokrovsk. In these regions, the remaining residents face severe attacks on an almost daily basis.
This also applies to the city of Lyman. Before the major Russian invasion, more than 22,000 people lived here, now there are around 4,000. One of them is Olena. She has to get water from a well because the drinking water supply no longer works.
The heating in her apartment hasn't worked for three years, she says: “Our gold at the moment is firewood and electricity. How are we supposed to survive the winter? Now it's still plus temperatures, but soon we'll have temperatures down to minus 20 degrees.” Olena says she doesn't want to leave Lyman. She has to take care of her 83-year-old mother.
In the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman, just 4,000 of the 22,000 residents remained.
Nina also stayed in Lyman. The 77-year-old stands in her apartment in a thick winter jacket, leafing through old albums and looking at Christmas photos of her grandchildren. It was a happy time before the major Russian invasion, she says: “My dream is that the war will end. That my children will come back and that we will have peace. That's all I need.”
