8 North Korean Officers Killed on Day 1 in Ukraine, Says Chinese Mercenary

On Tuesday, the Kyiv Post reported that a Chinese mercenary named “Dian Yuzhan,” who is active in Ukraine, claimed that several North Korean officers had died. He released a video on his social media account X, claiming that eight North Korean officers were killed on their first day of deployment. He criticized the Russian military’s leadership, describing it as disorganized and saying the compensation for the deceased was insufficient.

Dian mocked the North Korean military’s poor track record, stating that the officers were fierce but “vanished in just one day.” He also live-streamed with other Chinese mercenaries, disclosing a list of 153 Chinese nationals who died on the Luhansk front. When asked about desertion within his unit, Dian added that anyone caught would be shot immediately.

Dian also revealed that bodies of missing mercenaries had been found in various locations, often so damaged by shelling that they were unrecognizable, leaving families without any compensation.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) and several Chinese media outlets speculated that the actual name of the mercenary who posted the video is Xu Hang. In contrast, other outlets identified him as Wang Wei, according to the Kyiv Post.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian intelligence authorities (HUR) predicted that North Korean soldiers who had deserted from Kursk would be deployed in Ukrainian attack operations. A HUR official stated that 18 North Korean soldiers, after completing adaptation training, were sent into the forested area of Kolya Chek under Russian control without food or clear operational orders. Some of these soldiers left their posts to seek out the Russian commanders and were found two days later, 60 kilometers away by Russian forces.

HUR also indicated that North Korean instructors were present in Kolya Chek, helping Russian troops with military equipment, while Russian forces were training North Korean soldiers in modern infantry combat tactics used in Ukraine.

According to the Kyiv Post, all 40 North Korean soldiers from Homutovskyi were presumed to have been deployed to Rihovskyi in Kursk for an attack, though this has not been confirmed.