Notes found on dead North Koreans expose poor training in dealing with drones
More footage has emerged of North Korean troops being attacked by Ukrainian drones in the Kursk region of Russia, where Kyiv's forces are fighting to retain a small pocket of territory.
Over three days, the Ukrainians say they killed 77 North Korean troops and injured 40 more, attacking them as they dispersed in panic through open fields.
An estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Kursk by Pyongyang as part of a cash-for-combat troops deal struck between Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un.
The soldiers appear to have received little or no training on what to expect in Ukraine – particularly the threat of FPV drones – and are being used in so-called meat assaults against Ukrainian positions.
They are attacking without the support of tanks or artillery, and are moving on foot rather than in protected vehicles.
The footage shows Ukrainian drone operators attacking dozens of North Koreans as they scatter across open fields.
Some try to shoot the drones down, while others desperately try to swat the drone away with anything they can find – but for each of them the end is the same.
On the bodies of some of the North Koreans, the Ukrainians have found notes and drawings revealing the tactics they were told to use against drones.
One sketch shows how they were instructed to use one soldier as bait to lure in a drone while two others tried to shoot it down.
But against battle-hardened Ukrainian units, this tactic has proven to have serious shortcomings.
Some Ukrainian FPV operators have been able to gradually isolate individual North Koreans.
And in one piece of drone footage a DPRK soldier accidentally shoots a comrade as he tries to take down a drone.
Ukrainian forces found a note on another dead North Korean soldier which reveals he was a member of the special forces.
The soldier wrote how he had been sent to fight against Ukraine for "ungrateful actions" towards Kim Jong Un and hoped to regain the party's trust.
"The sins I committed are unforgivable," he wrote. "But my homeland has given me a path to rebirth, a new start in life. Now I have no choice but to regain trust."
Another note found on the bodies of North Koreans tells them that surrender is worse than death – a betrayal of their comrades, family and country.
It tells them how to commit suicide using a grenade if they believe they're about to be captured.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says 3,000 North Korean soldiers have now been killed or wounded in Kursk, a figure that can't be verified.
Meanwhile, there are reports that North Korea and Russia are deepening their military cooperation.
Ukrainian officials say 60% of the artillery and mortar shells used by Russia in Ukraine now come from Pyongyang.
And nearly a third of Russian ballistic missiles that were launched at Ukraine in 2024 were made in North Korea.
According to US and South Korean officials, around 200 munitions factories in North Korea are operating at full capacity.
In return, Russia is sending fuel and equipment to support Pyongyang's weapons production.
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