Heavy losses of DPRK soldiers in Kursk region — ISW tells why
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According to reports, North Korean forces are facing expected difficulties, high casualties, and poor communication with Russian forces in the Kursk region. This is likely to disrupt coordination between North Korean and Russian personnel and, in turn, undermine Russian military operations.
This is stated in a new report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
What indicates the failure of Russia's operations and the DPRK's losses
Analysts refer to public data. In particular, on Saturday, December 14, the Main Directorate of Military Intelligence (DIU) of Ukraine reported that North Korean troops in the Kursk region had recently fired on vehicles of the Chechen special forces battalion "Akhmat". As a result of the "friendly fire", 8 Chechen servicemen were killed, probably due to the language barrier between Russian and North Korean troops.
The DIU also reported that the language barrier prevents effective combat coordination between Russian and DPRK soldiers.
In addition, the intelligence service noted that the contingent of Russian and North Korean troops in the Kursk region had lost 200 personnel as of December 14. Ukrainian drones have also attacked DPRK positions, which is consistent with recent reports that North Korean troops are engaged in exhaustive infantry attacks.
Summarizing, analysts write that weak integration and ongoing communication problems between the Russian and DPRK militaries are likely to continue to cause friction in Russian military operations in the Kursk region in the near term.
To recap, on December 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had already begun using DPRK soldiers for assaults. As of that day, it was only the Kursk region.
We also wrote that on Sunday, the Ukrainian military published drone footage showing at least two dozen dead North Korean troops. In response, the Center for Public Affairs said that the enemy's losses were even higher than in the video.
