North Koreans Accidentally Killed Russians Due to Language Barrier: Ukraine

What’s New

North Korean troops fighting alongside Vladimir Putin’s army in Ukraine mistakenly killed eight Russian soldiers due to a language barrier mix-up, Ukraine’s intelligence service claims.

The accidental “friendly fire” incident occurred in the Kursk region, the intelligence department of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said on its Telegram social media channel on Saturday, although it did not specify when the attack took place.

Newsweek, which has been unable to independently verify the allegations, reached out by email on Monday morning to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and Russia’s Foreign Ministry seeking further information and comment.

Newsweek has also attempted to reach out to North Korea’s Mission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations Office, via email.

Putin visits North Korea — Pedestrians walk past portraits of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un outside the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium in North Korea in June 2024. During Putin’s visit, the two men signed a mutual defense pact.

KIM WON JIN/AFP via Getty Images

Why It Matters

North Korean troops were sent abroad by their dictator Kim Jong Un this fall to help his ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, wage war in Ukraine.

Putin invaded the country back in February 2022 and has subsequently been hit with tough sanctions from the U.S. and other Western allies who support Ukraine. The West has also provided weapons and aid to Ukraine as it battles to drive back Russian forces.

As the war of attrition drags on, Russia’s army has faced heavy losses, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers killed, while others have surrendered or fled a war they had no wish to fight. Last month, an entire regiment of more than 1,000 troops deserted the Russian army, according to reports.

Putin has been forced to recruit more than 100,000 convicts from Russia’s prisons in a bid to feed his war machine with cannon fodder. And the Russian leader would have hoped an influx of North Korean troops would furth swell his ranks.

What To Know

Ukraine’s intelligence department’s Telegraph post suggests that the joint North Korean-Russian operation has not been an unmitigated success.

The agency claimed that some 11,000 North Koreans were aiding Russia on the battlefield, but added: “Estimated losses of units staffed by Russian and North Korean personnel as of December 14, 2024, amount to about 200 servicemen.”

And the report stated: “In the process of using North Korean troops on the battlefield, the language barrier remains a difficult obstacle for management and coordination of actions.

“Due to the specified problem, North Korean soldiers opened ‘friendly fire’ on the automobile equipment of the so-called ‘Ahkmat’ battalion. The result was eight killed ‘Kadyrivets’.”

The 141st Special Motorized Regiment—colloquially known as the Kadyrovites, the Kadyrivets or the Akhmat special forces unit—is a paramilitary organization based out of Chechnya, Russia.

Meanwhile, dozens more North Korean troops fighting alongside Moscow’s soldiers in the Kursk Oblast were among those killed in massive assaults in the Russian region, according to Ukraine’s military, which released images purporting to show the casualties.

What People Are Saying

Neither Russia nor North Korea have yet reacted to the claims made by Ukraine about the alleged friendly fire deaths.

Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., an expert in North Korean defense at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Business Insider that, although the country has historical ties with Russia, it would be rare for citizens from either nation to learn each other’s language. “To conduct combat operations with an allied force that doesn’t speak your language presents real problems,” he said.