Ukrainian Intelligence: DPRK Troop Casualties in Kursk Exceed 7,000

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence directorate (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent that North Korean troops sustained over 7,000 casualties fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast during the August 2024–March 2025 Ukrainian incursion — a figure exceeding prior South Korean and UK intelligence estimates of roughly 6,000 killed and wounded. HUR said 'the North Korean regime is trying to conceal the actual losses that its army units suffered.' The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claim, and Pyongyang has not publicly commented on troop losses.