The pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel ExileNova, known for covering news from Kharkiv, Ukraine, shared a 2-minute and 7-second video on Thursday with the comment “Worried about Kursk.” The footage allegedly features the sole surviving soldier from the North Korean advance team that recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces. However, the exact location and time of the video’s recording remain unverified. Since Ukraine has officially stated that North Korean troops are not currently participating in combat, the video could potentially be misinformation.
The footage shows a man, presumed to be a North Korean soldier, lying in a hospital bed with his head and face heavily bandaged, with visible stains of blood and pus. He appears to be severely injured, struggling to open his eyes, and while his voice is barely audible, his accent suggests he is North Korean.
In the video, the man says, “The Russian military lied to us, saying we wouldn’t be ambushed as long as we stayed in protective facilities and that we would never participate in combat. However, they forced us to engage in the Kursk battle without warning.” He continues, “The Russian soldiers didn’t conduct any surveillance before the attack and didn’t provide us with weapons. When Ukraine launched its assault, there were 40 of us in the unit. All of my friends, including Hyeok Cheol and Kyung Hwan, were killed.”
The man describes the brutality of the encounter, stating that his fellow soldiers’ heads were severed by shrapnel, but he managed to survive by hiding under their bodies. He says, “I had heard stories about the Korean War from my grandfather, but I never imagined it would be like this. In reality, my comrades were used as fodder and all sacrificed,” He adds bitterly, “Ukrainian soldiers are equipped with the latest weapons and are highly motivated. Meanwhile, the Russian military has lost too many weapons and is now sending soldiers like us to the front lines as cannon fodder. Kursk is truly hell on earth.”
The man continues, “I saw with my own eyes the mountain of Russian soldiers’ corpses and destroyed defensive positions. Putin will lose this war.”
On Monday, Jonas Ohman, representative of the Lithuanian NGO Blue-Yellow, claimed in an interview with local media LRT that Ukrainian forces first encountered North Korean soldiers last week in Kursk. According to Ohman, “All the North Koreans died except for one.”
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuted these claims on Wednesday in an interview with KBS, stating, “North Korean troops have not participated in combat. They are preparing to engage in Kursk,” denying reports of the first engagement between Ukrainian and North Korean forces or any North Korean casualties.
Most Commented