Operators of the 8th Special Operations Forces Regiment (SOF) eliminated 13 North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. An officer may have been among those killed.
Points of attention
- SSO fighters eliminated a group of North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region, information about which was made public
- Items found on the bodies of the slain soldiers indicate the possibility of an officer being among them.
- White House spokesman John Kirby expressed concern about the attitude of the Russian and North Korean authorities towards North Korean soldiers.
- North Korean soldiers have become expendable material for Russia, according to John Kirby, although they receive assistance from the Russian military.
- The items discovered, as well as the actions taken by the military, indicate complex and tense military relations in the region.
SSO "doubled" a group of North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region
As noted, while performing special tasks, SSO fighters engaged in a gun battle, during which they killed five servicemen of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Another eight opponents were eliminated using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
After the battle, the SSO fighters inspected the bodies and personal belongings of the North Korean soldiers. One of the eliminated soldiers was found to have:
Automatic rifle with collimator sight,
Chinese-Russian radio station "Azart",
Drone detector,
An ID that was different from the standard military ID.
The items found may indicate that this serviceman was an officer.
Among other things, the North Korean soldier had a letter of appeal to the party with him, the SSO added.
North Korean soldiers have become expendable material for Russia
White House spokesman John Kirby made a statement on this matter.
According to him, the Russian and North Korean dictators — Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un — view North Korean soldiers as "expendable material" and give them orders for "hopeless attacks on Ukrainian defense."
Kirby points out that these soldiers are "zombified" and insist on attacks even when it is clear that they are futile.
"We also have reports that North Korean soldiers are committing suicide rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces, likely due to fear of reprisals against their families in North Korea if they are captured," said John Kirby.
He said that despite all the things the Russian military is giving these soldiers — "whether it's rifles, ammunition, artillery, backpacks, whatever they're doing there" — John Kirby hopes they're giving these commanders a large number of body bags because "they're definitely going to be needed."
