Ukraine faces heavy losses in Kursk as North Korean troops support Russian offensives, risking further territorial decline.

North Korea is suffering “heavy casualties,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

A North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces for the first time in the Russo-Ukraine War has died of wounds, sources from both Kyiv and Seoul claimed Friday.

In one week there were more than a thousand North Koreans casualties in the fight with Russia against Ukraine. U.S. officials say they are sent into battle with little equipment or preparation.

North Korean troops supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are conducting ground assaults against Ukrainian forces that have led to “heavy casualties,” a White House spokesman said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has alleged that North Korean troops are being used as human shields to counter Ukrainian offensives. Pyongyang has deployed a contingent of at least 11,000 troops to Russia, most of whom are fighting in the Russian region of Kursk,