Pyongyang is believed to have sent some 11,000 soldiers to help Putin’s army recapture a swathe of the Kursk region of Russia which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise attack last summer. The Russian military has been gradually gaining ground in the attempt to force Ukrainian units out of Kursk.

South Korea's spy agency says that North Korean forces have suffered more than 3,000 casualties while fighting alongside Russian troops.

North Korean troops have not been seen on the frontlines in Russia’s Kursk region for several weeks, a Ukrainian military official said Friday, amid reports of mass casualties among Pyongyang’s forces.