Massive attacks by North Korean infantry are part of the Russian command’s plan.

The North Korean military corps , which is fighting against Ukraine alongside Russian soldiers, could have lost 4% of its strength in a single battle in the Kursk region, Forbes reports .

Attacking in three waves across open fields near the village of Plekhove on Saturday, North Korean infantry was able to dislodge 100 Ukrainian soldiers who were holding the village. More than 500 North Korean soldiers from the 92nd and 94th separate special operations brigades of North Korea likely took part in the assault. Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsaplienko reported that North Korean military casualties could be up to half of all soldiers who took part in the attack. The information is being verified. 

Video footage and reports from the Kursk Bulge attacks, which involved Russian and North Korean forces, may explain why the North Koreans lost so many men. Apparently, the North Korean forces launched the attack in broad daylight, on foot, marching over mines under the watchful eye of Ukrainian drones. Eventually, they came under drone and artillery fire. 

After Ukrainian forces retreated westward and the smoke cleared, trucks carried away what were believed to be hundreds of dead and wounded North Koreans, a significant percentage of the approximately 12,000 North Korean force deployed north of the Kursk Bulge. 

“For all their losses at Plekhov, the North Koreans have at least gained some ground. The results on the opposite side of the salient may be less encouraging for Pyongyang’s army, which is fighting its first major war in decades. The Ukrainian 17th Heavy Mechanized Brigade, which is holding the line on the western edge of the salient, said it had “inflicted significant losses on the enemy,” possibly including the North Koreans. It appears that the brigade did not surrender many positions,” the author writes. 

Consequences of the Russian assault on Kurshchyna

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, noted that the massive attacks by North Korean infantry are part of the Russian command’s plan. According to him, the Russians are “betting on numbers.”

“How long North Korea’s 11th Army Corps can sustain a strategy of attrition attacks is unclear. The corps may have buried or hospitalized one out of every 25 soldiers under its command this past weekend alone,” the publication summarizes.

(c)UNIAN 2024