The North Korean soldiers who joined their Russian allies in the fight against the Ukrainian forces were withdrawn from the front lines after having undergone heavy victims, according to Ukrainian and American officials.
The North Korean troops, sent to strengthen the Russian forces trying to repel an Ukrainian offensive inside the borders of Russia, have not been seen in front for about two weeks, the officials said after asking The anonymity of discussing sensitive military and intelligence issues.
The arrival of approximately 11,000 North Korean troops in Russia in November caused an alarm in Ukraine and among its allies in the West, which feared that their deployment had reported significant climbing in the almost three years war. But in just three months, the North Korean ranks have halved, according to General Oleksandr Syrsky, the best Ukrainian military commander.
The Ukrainian troops who fought against the North Koreans described them as ferocious warriors. But disorganization in their ranks and the lack of cohesion with the Russian units quickly made victims, said a Ukrainian official. Since his arrival on the battlefield, the North Korean soldiers have been left to fend for themselves, advancing with few armored vehicles and rarely stopping to regroup or fall back, According to Ukrainian officials and first line troops.
Critics of the military leaders of Ukraine criticized last year’s offensive in the Kursk region of Russia as a waste of resources at a time when the military inside Ukraine hesitate in front of a prolonged Russian attack. But President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine insisted on holding the territory as long as possible, as a negotiation currency in future peace negotiations.
The longest Ukrainian troops hold Kursk, the more embarrassing it becomes for the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. Although Mr. Putin promised to expel Ukrainian forces, he hesitated to divert the troops from the main Russian operations in eastern Ukraine, to also strengthen his hand in future negotiations.
In this melee, Kim Jong-un, the chief of North Korea and an ally of Mr. Putin. It was Mr. Kim who proposed to send troops to help the Russians in Kursk, according to American intelligence agencies, although Mr. Putin quickly adopted the idea.
Many soldiers are among the troops of special operations in North Korea, but the Russians seem to have used them as soldiers, sending them to waves through fields dotted with terrestrial mines to mow by a heavy fire Ukrainian.
US officials said the decision to withdraw the North Korean troops from the front line may not be permanent. It is possible, they said, that the North Koreans could return after receiving additional training or after the Russians have found new ways to deploy them to avoid such victims.
In any case, the fight to expel the Ukrainian forces of Kursk is far from over. A few weeks ago, the Ukrainian forces launched a new offensive in the region, but they were hammered by the Russian defenses. Although the Ukrainians took around 500 miles of Russian territory when they swept the border last summer, the Russian forces were able to resume about half of this.
The Ukrainian foray into the Kursk region in August shocked the Kremlin. It was the first time in 10 years of fighting between the two countries, including the large -scale invasion of Russia in 2022, which the Ukrainian troops had taken and held Russian territory.
In a speech this week, Mr. Zelensky praised the Ukrainian troops who are fighting in the Kursk region, saying that their efforts had created “a buffer zone” to protect Ukrainian territory in the northeast of the additional Russian offensives .
Mr. Kim probably has his own motivations to help Russia in Kursk. US officials say he hopes Putin will reimburse favor in the future, providing assistance to North Korea missile programs and diplomatic support for the United Nations.
North Korea has also provided Russia millions of artillery shells, which now represent about half of the ammunition that Russia draws every day, as well as rockets and missiles, according to Western and Ukrainian intelligence officials . Russia has provided North Korea oil, food and certain improvements in weapons.
Last summer, a few months before Ukraine launched its foray into Kursk, Mr. Putin met Mr. Kim in Pyongyang, where they restored a treaty of mutual defense and military cooperation between their country.