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North Korean Troops Killed in Kursk Honored at Memorial Ceremony
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un publicly commended troops who detonated grenades to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region. The statement confirms reports of heavy North Korean casualties in the conflict. Separately, the ongoing war has significantly weakened Ukraine's oligarchs by destroying assets and reducing their political influence.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over a memorial ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of Russian forces’ recapture of territory in the Kursk region. ” The ceremony included a sculpture depicting North Korean and Russian soldiers standing together and a list of approximately 2,288 fallen troops.
The event is the first time Kim has publicly acknowledged that North Korean soldiers received instructions to avoid capture through self-detonation. Two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces had previously attempted suicide but survived because their injuries prevented them from carrying out the act.
South Korean and Ukrainian officials estimate that more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed since Pyongyang deployed roughly 14,000 troops to support Russian operations in late 2024. Russia recaptured the area around Sudzha in spring 2025 following Ukraine’s incursion into Russian territory the previous summer—the first foreign incursion into Russia since World War II.
North Korea has supplied Russia with millions of artillery shells and ballistic missiles in exchange for economic and military assistance. The memorial underscored the deepening military partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow.
Separately, the war has accelerated structural changes inside Ukraine. Rinat Akhmetov, the country’s richest individual, saw his fortune decline from nearly $14 billion to about $7 billion after roughly 70 of his companies in occupied Donbas and Mariupol were destroyed or seized.
Akhmetov has contributed around $368 million in steel fortifications, anti-drone shields, and underground shelters to the Ukrainian military. Other oligarchs, including Victor Pinchuk, have funded rehabilitation centers and mental health programs for wounded soldiers.
Under martial law the Ukrainian state assumed control of major media holdings, prompting Akhmetov to close his Media Group Ukraine. Pro-Russian figures such as Viktor Medvedchuk were arrested or exiled, while Ihor Kolomoisky faced fraud and money-laundering charges and Dmytro Firtash remains in custody in Austria.
