North Korea has not responded to reports of its troops captured or killed by Ukraine forces. It has never publicised the deployment or large shipments of North Korean artillery shells and other weapons sent to Russia to help its war against Ukraine, although they marked the country’s first intervention in a major armed conflict overseas in decades.

To avoid being hit by multiple drone attacks from the air, North Koreans have taken to forming a ‘human shield,’” says a Seoul-based specialist.

It comes after Ukraine released footage of two captured men, reportedly North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia.

SEOUL— North Korean troop fatalities and injuries in Ukraine have likely exceeded 3,000, including about 300 deaths and 2,700 injuries, a South Korean lawmaker briefed by the country's spy agency said on Monday (Jan 13).

Seoul has previously claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent more than 10,000 soldiers as ‘cannon fodder’ to help Moscow fight Kyiv, in return for Russian technical assistance for Pyongyang’s

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

The report highlights that North Korean soldiers have developed unique battlefield tactics, such as using a soldier as bait to shoot down drones or detonating grenades, holding it under the neck with one hand on the pin when the Ukrainian military approaches to avoid capture when severely wounded.

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