All North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast could be killed or wounded in action by April 2025, ISW says
Pravda Ukraine
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), North Korean troops participating in combat operations in Russia’s Kursk Oblast are experiencing critically high casualty rates. If the situation remains unchanged, the entire contingent of 12,000 servicemen could be killed or wounded in action by mid-April 2025.
Source: ISW
Details: The report said North Korean troops have been suffering approximately 92 casualties per day since they were deployed to combat operations in December 2024. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in early January 2025 that 3,800 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded. According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, 300 North Korean soldiers had been killed and another 2,700 wounded as of 13 January 2025.
ISW analysts noted that if the current rate of losses continues, the entire contingent of 12,000 North Korean soldiers could be killed or wounded in action within 12 weeks (by mid-April 2025).
Quote: “North Korean forces will likely continue to suffer a larger ratio of wounded to killed in action – as is typical for armed conflict – and it is unclear if or when injured North Korean soldiers return to combat.”
To quote the ISW’s Key Takeaways on 16 January:
- Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Voronezh Oblast and a gunpowder plant in Tambov Oblast on the night of 15-16 January.
- The entire North Korean contingent of roughly 12,000 personnel currently in Kursk Oblast may be killed or wounded in action by mid-April 2025 should North Korean forces continue to suffer from their current high loss rate in the future.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a landmark “Centennial Partnership Agreement” on 16 January outlining Ukrainian-British cooperation for the next 100 years and continued UK support to Ukraine.
- Russian and Transnistrian authorities are reportedly discussing Russian purchases of European gas for Transnistria through an intermediary, likely to avoid having to gain various states’ permission to use the TurkStream and Trans-Balkan pipelines to supply Russian gas to the pro-Russian breakaway Moldovan republic.
- Ukrainian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast.
- Russian forces recently advanced near Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove and Velyka Novosilka.
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