US officials estimate that more than 1000 of Pyongyang’s troops died in the last week of December alone.
The diary, which was found on December 21 and has been authenticated by experts, was written by a young soldier who died in a firefight alongside two compatriots, Ukraine’s special forces said.
It was published a day after Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had captured two North Korean soldiers.
Ukrainian intelligence released videos of the two men, one with a bandage wrapped around his head and the other with bandages covering his hands.
They were transported to Kyiv for questioning and have reportedly told Ukrainian intelligence services that they thought they were being sent to Russia for training, not to fight in the war.
Zelensky on Sunday offered the captured soldiers to Pyongyang in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia. He added there would “undoubtedly be more” North Korean troops captured by Ukrainian forces.
A photo released by Ukrainian officials purporting to show a North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine.Credit: X
Many of the thousands of North Korean conscripts sent to Russia in October were teenagers who had never left the Communist state, and this youthfulness comes through in the dead soldier’s diary.
It detailed how the author was homesick for his parents and how he had celebrated his best friend’s birthday.
“Longing for my homeland, having left the warm embrace of my dear father and mother, here on Russian land I celebrate the birthday of my closest comrade Song Ji Myong,” he wrote.
The diary also hinted at the fanaticism and devotion to Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s dictator, that was driving the conscripts.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023.Credit: Korean Central News Agency
“Even at the cost of my life, I will carry out the supreme commander’s orders without hesitation,” the soldier wrote.
Kim sent about 12,000 conscripts to help Russian forces expel Ukrainian soldiers from Kursk under a “mutual military assistance” deal signed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.
In return for the conscripts and supplies of missiles and artillery shells, Putin is understood to be sending sanction-busting fuel to North Korea and helping Kim launch spy satellites.
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In the Kursk region, Russian military bloggers said the country’s forces had repelled a Ukrainian counter-offensive launched last week and were now seizing ground.
They said the Kremlin’s troops were attempting to push the remaining Ukrainian military units from the region before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president on January 20, amid expectation he may look to impose a peace deal.
A military blogger who writes under the name Rybar, who has 1.2 million subscribers on the Telegram messaging app, said Russian forces had “advanced in heavy bloody battles on the northern edge” of territory in Kursk that had been held by Ukraine since August and were “breaking through to Sudzha along the shortest route”.
Ukraine’s troops in the region are concentrated around the main town of Sudzha.
Analysts believe Zelensky ordered the counter-offensive last week to hold on to the roughly 750 square kilometres that Ukrainian troops still hold in an attempt to put pressure on Putin ahead of potential peace talks.
The Telegraph, London
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