TAIPEI, Taiwan – Three North Korean soldiers killed five Russian servicemen in Russia’s Kursk region and the “armed and dangerous” Koreans were being hunted, according to a Russian military telegram channel.
As many as 12,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia to support its war against Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk, according to Ukraine and the United States – although neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has acknowledged this.
“Koreans killed servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces. On Jan. 13, 2025, in the area of the village of Bolshoye Soldatskoye, Kursk region, three DPRK soldiers killed five servicemen of the 810th Separate Marine Brigade, military unit 13140, from Sevastopol,” reads a wanted poster published by a Telegram user Spy Dossier, who posts military content.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name.
Russia’s 810th Separate Marine Brigade has been engaged in intense battles in the Kursk region, with Ukrainian intelligence and media sources reporting the involvement of North Korean soldiers alongside it.
“The criminals are armed and dangerous … if found, observe personal safety measures and report to the Kursk Regional Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” the poster in Russian reads further.
Spy Dossier said the poster came from a “reliable source,” but noted that it needed to be verified. Radio Free Asia has not been able to independently verify it.
Language barrier
No reason was given for the reported killing of the Russians by the North Koreans but some Russian military bloggers suggested the incident was the result of “friendly fire” between North Koreans and Russians due to miscommunication.
Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, or DIU, said in December that the language barrier between two groups remained a problematic obstacle to command and coordination.
“Due to this problem, North Korean soldiers opened friendly fire on the vehicles of the so-called Akhmat battalion. The result was eight dead Kadyrovites,” DIU said.
Kadyrovites is a term for Chechen troops loyal to leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
The DIU added that the incident was the result of the language barrier between Russian and North Korean troops, which is a “difficult obstacle” on the battlefield.
Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine also testified that they were kept separately from North Koreans mainly due to the language barrier.
Food shortage
DIU also reported in December that North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia in Kursk had been complaining about insufficient rations.
At that time, DIU said the dissatisfied North Koreans were under Russia’s 810th Separate Marine Brigade.
In order to overcome the problem, DIU said Russian officials sent Major General Mevlyutov, deputy commander for Resource Support of the Leningrad Military District, to the front line in Kursk.
It said he immediately ordered rations to be issued from the supplies of a Russian unit, which it identified as the 11th Air Assault Brigade.
Separately, a Ukrainian official told RFA in December that North Korean soldiers were struggling with poor and insufficient supplies and outdated weapons.
Mykhailo Makaruk of Ukraine’s 8th Special Operations Regiment said that after searching through uniforms of North Korean soldiers killed in Kursk, that they had no military food in their bags, but only some low quality grenades as well as poor military medicine kits.
The wanted poster emerged amid reports about increasing casualties among North Korean troops fighting in Kursk.
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Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said last week that North Koreans had likely suffered roughly 92 casualties per day since starting to participate in significant fighting in early December.
The think tank added that if the North continued to suffer such a high casualty rate, the entirety of this North Korean contingent in Kursk may be killed or wounded in roughly 12 weeks, or by about mid-April.
Ukraine reported on Jan. 4 an estimated 3,800 casualties among North Korean soldiers, while South Korea estimated on Jan. 13 that more than 300 North Koreans had been killed and about 2,700 wounded.
Edited by Mike Firn.