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North Korean troops died fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region, the United States said.
These would be the first reported victims since it emerged in October that North Korea had sent about 10,000 troops to bolster Russia’s war effort.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the GUR, said at least 30 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded in the weekend fighting.
The BBC has not independently verified the claims.
The North Korean troops, none of whom will have previous combat experience, are believed to have spent their first weeks after being sent to Russia in training and then in support roles.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had begun using “significant numbers” in its attacks in Kursk, part of which Ukraine has occupied since launching a surprise raid in August.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the United States believed North Korean soldiers had “engaged in combat at Kursk alongside Russian forces” and “suffered casualties, including deaths as wounded.”
He did not give specific figures, although he said that troops had been in combat for “a little over a week.”
He added that it appeared that the North Koreans were being used in infantry roles and that until now their involvement was thought to be limited to Kursk, implying that they have not been deployed in Ukraine itself.
Russian forces, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have been advancing in eastern parts of the country in recent months.
The GUR said the North Korean casualties occurred on Saturday and Sunday in the villages of Plekhovo, Vorobzha and Martynovka in Kursk.
On Monday, President Zelensky posted drone footage on Telegram showing several men taking cover behind trees, saying they were North Korean troops who had just participated in an assault on a Ukrainian position.
He also posted images that he said showed Russian troops trying to conceal the presence of North Koreans on the battlefield by using a bonfire to burn the faces of those who had been killed.
“Ukrainian Defense Forces and intelligence are working to determine the full extent of actual losses suffered by Russian units that include North Koreans,” he said.
He added that “there was not a single reason for North Koreans to die in this war.”
The Kremlin referred questions about the North Korean deaths to the Russian Defense Ministry, which had no comment.
