Putin’s cannon fodder North Koreans RETREATING from Ukraine frontline after nearly half taken out & top commander killed
NORTH Korean troops fighting for Vladimir Putin have retreated from the frontline after nearly half of them were wiped out, a Ukrainian claims.
The withdrawal comes as Kyiv eliminated one of Pyongyang's top commanders and managed to capture his body.
He appears to be the most senior killed out of Kim Jong-un's 4,000 troops left injured or dead in the fighting, Volodymyr Zelensky claims.
Pyongyang has shipped 11,000 troops to Russia as Putin desperately tries to recapture Ukrainian-controlled Kursk.
Ukrainian special forces commander Puls told the North Koreans had fled from the fighting but would be "back soon" to the frontline.
Puls said the soldiers pulled back a fortnight ago to regroup, tend to wounded, or wait for reinforcements.
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He said: "The Russians are standing, working everywhere along the frontline, but no Koreans.
"They're still present, training or waiting for reinforcements. Something is happening, they'll be back soon."
Ukrainian troops also revealed North Korean soldiers have blown themselves up with grenades rather than risk capture.
One is even thought to have shouted "For General Kim Jong-un" before taking his own life.
North Korean soldiers attack in WW2-style groups of between 20 to 60 - making themselves easy targets for Ukrainian drones and artillery.
They are being used as "human bait" to lure out drones, while other fighters then target the flying bombs.
Kim Jong-un has already sent 11,000 soldiers from the elite Storm Corp forces.
Other North Koreans have been captured with Russian IDs and diaries that have revealed what exactly they are doing.
One 27-year-old wrote in his diary: “I, having left my homeland, on unfamiliar Russian land, send birthday congratulations to my friend Song Ji-myung (Yong).
“I wish you health.
"December 9, 2024 – Jeong Kyung-hong.”
Two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine
POV footage showing kamikaze Ukrainian drones swooping down onto North Korean soldiers was also recently released by the Ukrainian army.
It shows the soldiers scrambling and running for their lives as the drones methodically pick them off.
Zelenksy previously said: “Russia is simply disposing of them [North Koreans] in assaults.
“Why the Koreans should fight for Putin is a question that no normal person on Earth can answer.”
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As well as sending soldiers, Kim Jong-un is also thought to be sending trainloads of weapons to Russia to support Putin's war.
Footage emerged recently of a train of heavy duty artillery rumbling across Russia in December.
I was a North Korean soldier - troops will be used as 'human shields'
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
A FORMER North Korean soldier said the troops in Russia will be looking to escape the battle in Ukraine "from the beginning".
Speaking to The Sun before North Korean troops were deployed in Ukraine, Hyun-Seung Lee, a soldier in the Kim army in the early 2000s, said the soldiers in North Korea will be forced to go the war.
He said they will be young, so they won't be that committed to the fighting.
He said: "It will be individuals at first, but more like as time passes, I think there'll be like a larger number of group defections, including officers."
That's because, Lee says, the Russians will likely treat them as "expendable" and even more poorly than their own troops.
He said: "Russian soldiers don't respect them as their fellow warriors
"They will treat them as their human shields."
Eventually, the North Koreans will realise the hierarchy and how they are being seen as "disposable" by the Russians and look to flee, Lee said.
He added: "I think they'll die without any impact.
"Putin and Kim Jong-un would expect more from them... they won't get the expected results."
"So, [troops will be told] 'don't pick up any material from Ukraine government or in the South Korean language' and 'they [claims in the propaganda they hear] are all fake', and 'it's not true' if someone defects, or 'if you're arrested, you'll be tortured'."
But Lee believes the soldiers will be susceptible to any psy-ops the Ukrainian government uses to try and get troops to defect.
He added: "I would say, if Ukraine's government conducts a psychological strategy against North Korean soldiers then the chances are really high [of defection] because they don't have real motivation. It's not for money, right? They are not getting paid.
"And obviously it's [their motivation] not defending your country, and then your parents, and yourself. So it's just that they are mobilised by the North Korean supreme commander Kim Jong-un."