Western officials have told the BBC that North Korean troops have already suffered nearly 40% casualties in the fighting in Russia's western Kursk region, in just three months.

Soldiers of the 8th Regiment of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces resisted a North Korean assault in Russia’s Kursk Oblast for eight hours before retreating, killing 21 and wounding 40 soldiers, the unit said on Jan.

Ukrainian forces described a different kind of enemy, fighting with unfamiliar tactics and little option to retreat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s willing to hand over the soldiers to North Korea, if Kim Jong Un arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

Ukraine’s president released a video of the two soldiers being interrogated, revealing they knew little about the war they were sent to fight in.

Around 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 3,000 wounded while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the BBC’s Russian service reported Wednesday, citing unnamed Western officials. North Korea is believed to have sent thousands of troops last fall to help the Russian military drive out Ukrainian forces that are occupying the

"I didn't even know who we were fighting against," the captured soldier from Pyongyang told Ukraine's Security Service.

Polissia paratroopers from the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade captured the wounded North Korean soldier. In a video, the soldiers detailed how the capture unfolded. Read also: North Korean troops unknowingly sent to Ukraine war,

Ukrainian forces detailed the capture of a North Korean soldier on the western Kursk front in Russia on Tuesday.