This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
Soldiers from North Korea, fighting in the Kursk region of Russia, are driving residents out of their homes to take shelter and hide from Ukrainian drones, said a Ukrainian activist group, amid reports of increasing casualties among the North Koreans from drone strikes.
Ukraine says North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk are proving to be easy targets for Ukrainian drones since they are unfamiliar with the difficulties of drone warfare and are struggling to adapt.
InformNapalm, an investigative group reporting on Russia’s war against Ukraine, said in its Telegram channel that it had video as evidence of North Koreans breaking into homes and evicting Russian residents to shelter from drones in the village of Machnowka.
The 53-second clip shows a man in a military uniform ordering elderly inhabitants of a home to stand outside while he takes refuge indoors. InformNapalm said that the soldier captured in the video was North Korean, citing intelligence data.
Radio Free Asia was not able to independently verify the video.
Separately, Ukraine’s 8th Special Operations Forces Regiment released photos of what it said show belongings of a dead North Korean soldier, including a drone detector.
Visual evidence indicates the device is a Bulat series drone detector produced by the Russian firm 3mx company.
According to Russian military bloggers, units of the Russian army have been using Bulat series drone detectors since last year. RFA was not able to independently verify the images.
North Koreans fighting in Kursk are proving to be easy targets for Ukrainian drones since they employ a primitive tactic of baiting drones, a strategy previously documented in their military manuals, said the unmanned aerial vehicle systems battalion of Ukraine’s 36th Separate Marine Brigade, known as Wolf.
“There are many North Korean soldiers in our direction who are sweet targets for our drones because they don’t yet understand what drones are. This works to our advantage. They show no regard for their manpower, which is why they use such tactics,” said the brigade on Sunday.
South Korea’s spy agency said in December that North Korean soldiers were being “consumed” in attacks in Kursk because they lacked experience of drone warfare, adding that Russian forces complained that the North Koreans were a “burden” because of their “ignorance.”
Up to 12,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia to support its war efforts against Ukraine in Kursk, Ukraine and the U.S. say, but neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have acknowledged their deployment.
Ukraine reported 3,800 casualties among the North Koreans while South Korea estimated at least 1,100 North Koreans have been killed or wounded.
North Korean soldiers are being trained by Russians in the use of modern drones and weapons, but the morale of North Korean soldiers in Russia remains low due to isolation and separation from family, Ukrainian officials say.
The rate of their losses and communication problems because of the language barrier further affect operational effectiveness. Many soldiers have been deprived of personal devices to prevent information leaks, according to Ukraine.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in December some North Korean soldiers were taking their own lives rather than surrender to Ukrainian forces in fighting in Russia’s Kursk region,
The North Korean military mounted a massive but “hopeless” attack on Ukrainian forces in Kursk on the orders of the Russian and North Korean military leadership, Kirby added.