The United States has said that North Korean soldiers fighting against Ukraine on the side of Russia in Kursk Oblast are committing suicide to avoid being captured by the Ukrainian defence forces. Source: White House representative John Kirby at a briefing on Friday,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and wounded in Russia's Kursk region and warned that Pyongyang could send more personnel and equipment for Moscow's army.

A thousand North Korean troops have been killed or wounded in the last week fighting in Ukraine, the US has said. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Russia was deploying “human waves” of North Korean soldiers, and at least one soldier captured by Ukraine died of his injuries, according to NBC News.

North Korea is suffering “heavy casualties,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

North Korean forces are suffering heavy casualties as they carry out "human wave" attacks against Ukrainian troops, a White House spokesperson has said. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that the US now assesses North Korean soldiers are carrying out "massed,

"It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses," National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said on Dec.