There is mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia's three-year war with Ukraine.

A video released last week shows Ukrainian authorities interrogating two North Korean soldiers captured in the Kursk region of Russia. In the video, one of the soldiers expressed a desire to stay in Ukraine;

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 3,800 North Korean soldiers had been killed or injured in Kursk in an interview in early January.

Over 12,000 North Korean troops are estimated to be fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, the United Nations Security Council learned last week.

North Korea's military contingent in Russia’s Kursk region may face total annihilation by mid-April, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), as reported by Digi24.ro. The think tank noted that Pyongyang could struggle to sustain such heavy losses.