The military did not specify the exact date of the battle but noted that Ukrainian infantry and snipers, equipped with small arms and grenade launchers, held off the North Korean army's advance on Ukrainian positions for over eight hours.

Western officials have told the BBC that North Korean troops have already suffered nearly 40% casualties in the fighting in Russia's western Kursk region, in just three months.

North Korean soldiers, who are fighting alongside the russians against the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk Oblast, executed Ukrainians who tried to

"Among them are officers, sergeants, and privates from motorized rifle units, Marines, airborne troops, and other units, coming from various Russian regions and the occupied city of Sevastopol," the Airborne Assault Troops' press service said.

Ukraine's military said 21 troops were killed and 40 injured in the operation in the Russian region where it is staging an incursion.

The report highlights that North Korean soldiers have developed unique battlefield tactics, such as using a soldier as bait to shoot down drones or detonating grenades, holding it under the neck with one hand on the pin when the Ukrainian military approaches to avoid capture when severely wounded.

Around 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 3,000 wounded while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the BBC’s Russian service reported Wednesday, citing unnamed Western officials. North Korea is believed to have sent thousands of troops last fall to help the Russian military drive out Ukrainian forces that are occupying the

"I didn't even know who we were fighting against," the captured soldier from Pyongyang told Ukraine's Security Service.