North Korean army officers reportedly killed in Ukrainian missile strike near Donetsk

Six North Korean officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on their position along the Russian frontline of the occupied Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian news reports on Friday.

Artillerymen of the 15th Operative Purpose Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops amid a Russian assault near the town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region on Thursday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Six North Korean officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on their position along the Russian frontline of the occupied Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian news reports on Friday.

Ukrainian military intelligence officials who were quoted anonymously by the Kyiv Post and Interfax-Ukraine said over 20 military personnel, including the North Korean officers, were killed in the strike.

Russian military bloggers reported earlier in the day that North Korean military officers were visiting the frontline to see how Russian forces set up defensive positions and were “preparing for assault operations” before the Ukrainian missile struck.

According to the Russian Telegram channel Kremlin Snuffbox, three North Korean officers were also injured in the strike and were sent to Moscow to be treated.

Shipments of ammunition and missiles have flowed from the North to Russia since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held his first summit with President Vladimir Putin since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Russian Far East in September last year.

The same month, the Ukrainian military said Putin had persuaded Kim to dispatch North Korean workers to Donetsk and Luhansk, another Russian-occupied region, to carry out construction work.

Ukrainian military intelligence has also reported the arrival of North Korean military personnel to Russian-occupied territory in Donetsk since Kim and Putin’s first summit.

Experts believe that approximately 3 million artillery shells have been shipped by the North to Russia over the past year, making up almost half of all shells fired by Russia against Ukraine in the same time frame.

According to the London-based Times newspaper, shells supplied by the North likely helped Russia capture the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk last week.

The North Korean military announced the deployment of one of its engineering units to Donetsk in July, a month after Kim and Putin signed a comprehensive strategic defense treaty during their subsequent summit in Pyongyang.

In response, Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said the deployment of North Korean forces to Ukraine is “certainly something to keep an eye on” but warned Pyongyang’s forces would become “cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]