WSJ told about first battles of AFU with North Koreans
Soldiers of the 225th Separate Assault Regiment and soldiers of the 8th Separate Special Forces Regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine took on the first battles with North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.
This is stated in the material of the American edition of The Wall Street Journal, Censor.NET reports.
The commander of the 225th Separate Special Forces, Oleh Shiryaev, described his first encounter with North Korean soldiers on the battlefield: "They kept advancing, advancing, advancing... We had a company there while they were attacking in battalions."
In their first battles, the North Koreans ran in large groups, without radio communication, without the support of Russian UAVs and artillery, just like in World War II, which made them an easy target for the Ukrainian army.
Shyryaev said that later, the 225th Separate Mechanized Brigade defended a village in the Kursk region, which was located along one of the vital logistical routes for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Russia.
After destroying bridges to cut off the Ukrainian army, the North Korean infantry moved on the Ukrainian troops, but under the cover of artillery fire and planning bombs, fully integrating into the Russian army. According to Shiryaev, the Koreans used the tactics of the Russians, moving in small groups of three to five people.
The WSJ notes that in addition to the 225th Separate Special Forces Regiment, soldiers from the 8th Separate Special Forces Regiment took part in early battles with North Korean troops in mid-December last year.
"A nine-person team tasked with helping defend positions and obtaining evidence of North Korean troops' presence joined the firefight along with other Ukrainian soldiers, which was so intense that it lit up the night sky like a laser show," a soldier with the 8th SOF Regiment, call sign Bulat, who participated in the battle, told WSJ.
According to the Special Operations Forces, 21 North Koreans were killed in action, 40 were wounded, and three were captured (one of them died during the evacuation). All nine Ukrainian Special Forces soldiers got out.
In total, the North Koreans suffered about 5,000 casualties.
"Why are the Koreans storming? They are better prepared (than the Russians) psychologically and better physically... They pay with blood," Shiryaev said, adding that by ignoring the value of human life, the North Koreans have surpassed even the Russians, paying a huge price by deliberately going to their deaths.
