Ukrainian forces controlled the territory for more than six months, until the North Korean army helped the Russians to push them out in March 2025.
Russia and North Korea signed a comprehensive partnership treaty in the summer of 2024. While both initially denied reports of the latter’s troops entering battle, they later admitted it was true after the successful operation in Kursk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously estimated that about 4,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded, while U.S. officials offered a lower estimate of around 1,200 casualties.
After reports of the removal of North Korean troops from the front line, they were spotted at war again, the Ukrainian Army General Staff said on Oct. 16, this time to support Russian military operations in Ukraine’s Sumy region, bordering Kursk.
“From the territory of the Kursk region, these units conduct reconnaissance activities using drones, identify the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and provide assistance in adjusting fire on the positions of Ukrainian units in Sumy,” the general staff said.