Kim Says North Korean Troops Killed Themselves To Avoid Capture By Ukraine
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has hailed troops who opted to blow themselves up rather than be captured by Ukrainian forces, confirming previous Ukrainian reports.
North Korean troops were first reported in Russia in October 2024-an initial 1,500 special forces personnel arriving in the far eastern city of Vladivostok before deploying to join Russian forces in their fight to contain a surprise Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Russian border region of Kursk.
At least 15,000 North Koreans were sent to Russia, according to South Korean estimates, with over 6,000 killed. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have confirmed these figures. The deployments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim signed an agreement to provide military assistance should either come under attack.
Kim Praises Battlefield Conduct
During a ceremony inaugurating a museum for fallen veterans of the war Monday, Kim hailed “the heroes who unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting” and “suicide attacks” to defend their nation’s honour, as well as “those who fell in the vanguard of charges and those who writhed in frustration at the failure to fulfill their duties as soldiers who were given orders, rather than in pain in their bodies torn by bullets and shells,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
North Korean and Russian soldiers “fought in the same trench shoulder to shoulder to defend peace and national sovereignty,” Kim said, adding that while this cooperation took place in just one region, the strategic significance was “great.”
The joint effort “wiped out the aggressors” and halted a “hegemonic attempt and military adventure” by a United States-led Western alliance, the supreme leader added, echoing the Kremlin’s claim that NATO expansion toward Russia’s doorstep was a major cause for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Newsweek reached out by email to the North Korean embassy in Beijing, China and the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministries with requests for comment.
Ukraine‘s military had previously reported some North Korean troops-whom they have described as “cannon fodder”-had been self-detonating with grenades when it appeared they would be taken prisoner.
The North Korean ceremony was held on the anniversary of the date it and Russia claim to have retaken Kursk.
North Korean Military Assistance
Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, who was in Pyongyang this week, awarded the Orders of Courage to members of the Korean People’s Army for their feats during the operation, according to Russian state-owned media outlet Tass.
Kim pledged to continue to support Russian efforts to protect its sovereignty, national security, and territorial integrity, he told Belousov Sunday, per Tass.
In addition to troops, North Korea has provided some 33,000 containers of suspected munitions as of February, enough to contain 15 million rounds of 152 mm or 155 mm artillery shells, according to estimates from South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency. Ukrainian authorities have also reported finding remnants of North Korean-made missiles.
The U.S., Ukraine, and others have expressed concerns Russia may be providing North Korea with technological expertise in return, including on its United Nations-sanctioned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 9:27 AM.