Putin has lost 600,000 soldiers in Ukraine, NATO chief says

Vladimir Putin has lost more than 600,000 troops in Ukraine, forcing him to rely evermore on foreign support for his invasion according to NATO's top brass. 

The military bloc's secretary general Mark Rutte said that as a result of the heavy losses, North Korean troops have been sent to Russia's Kursk region. 

'The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,' Rutte told reporters after NATO officials and diplomats received a briefing from a South Korean delegation.

Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion into Kursk in August and remain in the region.

Rutte said the North Korean deployment represented 'a significant escalation' of Pyongyang's involvement in 'Russia's illegal war' in Ukraine, a breach of UN Security Council resolutions and a 'dangerous expansion' of the war.

Rutte said the deployment of North Korean troops was a sign of 'growing desperation' on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

'Over 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Putin's war and he is unable to sustain his assault on Ukraine without foreign support,' Rutte said.

The Kremlin had dismissed reports about a North Korean troop deployment as 'fake news'. But Putin on Thursday did not deny that North Korean troops were currently in Russia and said that it was Moscow's business how to implement a partnership treaty with Pyongyang.

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A North Korean representative to the United Nations in New York called the reports 'groundless rumours'.

Ukraine's top presidential official said on Monday sanctions would not be a sufficient response to North Korean involvement in the war and called for more Western arms supplies to Kyiv.

'North Korean troops are already in the Kursk region...This is an escalation. Sanctions alone are not enough. We need weapons and a clear plan to prevent North Korea's expanded involvement in the war in Europe,' Andriy Yermak, president's chief of staff, said on X.

He added that Ukraine's Western allies should respond firmly since 'the enemy understands strength'.

It comes after Ukrainian intelligence leaked what it claims was evidence that Russian troops were complaining about the arrival of North Korean fighters and squabbling about how they will be equipped.

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In one recording, a pair of soldiers can be heard bellyaching about the so-called 'K battalion', referring to them as 'f***ing Chinese' and declaring one of his fellow servicemen had said 'who knows what the f*** we're supposed to do with them'.

Another clip obtained by Ukraine's Defence Intelligence (GUR) appeared to expose the lack of communication and planning regarding the North Korean troops' integration with their Russian counterparts.

'He was just talking about the K battalion, I say: ''And who is getting the weapons and ammunition for them? We got rations, and as far as I heard those are for the brigade'',' one Russian soldier moaned.

'He was like ''What f***ing brigade? You're getting everything.'' I just said that I understood everything and went out for a smoke.'