The United States has said that North Korean soldiers fighting against Ukraine on the side of Russia in Kursk Oblast are committing suicide to avoid being captured by the Ukrainian defence forces. Source: White House representative John Kirby at a briefing on Friday,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that Russia was trying to "conceal losses" of North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine.

White House National Security communications adviser John Kirby said Russia was treating North Korean troops as “expendable” by sending them on impractical ground operations in its war against Ukraine.

A North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine has died of his wounds, South Korea's spy agency said on Friday. "It has been confirmed through an allied intelligence agency that the North Korean soldier captured alive on December 26th has just passed away due to worsening wounds,

North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk region are suffering heavy casualties with inadequate support from Moscow. President Zelenskyy highlighted their expendability, with estimates of over 1,000 killed or wounded recently,

North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in the fighting in Russia's Kursk region and facing logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks, Ukraine's military intelligence said Thursday.