Chinese Mercenary Fighting for Russia Says North Koreans Killed in Ukraine

A Chinese mercenary has shared details about North Korean soldiers allegedly killed shortly after they joined Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

The information was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by the account @whyyoutouzhele on Sunday, in a conversation between a gun-for-hire fighting alongside Russian forces, who goes by the handle “Dian Yuzhang,” and a mercenary who has returned to China and goes by the name Li Dafu.

These claims emerged just days after South Korea’s National Intelligence Service confirmed that North Korean troops had been training in Russia before being sent to bolster Russia’s diminished forces and help contain Ukraine’s counteroffensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

During the broadcast, Dian Yuzhang told host Li Dafu that North Korean soldiers had already experienced losses. “After just one day, eight people have died—senior officers,” Yuzhang said, laughing, as the two discussed recent events on the front lines.

According to South Korean intelligence, as many as 12,000 North Korean troops would be sent over, with Ukrainian intelligence saying many are already training in eastern Russia.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the North Korean embassy in Beijing via email for comment.

Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute, said that by committing troops to the conflict, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hopes to ingratiate himself with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin further while projecting a stronger international image.

“Kim Jong Un seeks more advanced defense technology and wants to obligate Putin to come to his defense to be able to threaten others without much fear of attack,” he told Newsweek.

“He is also eager to put some of his troops into combat. Even though many will come home in body bags if returned at all, Kim will be able to boast that he has the only battle-ready troops on the peninsula,” Cronin added.

The conversation between the Chinese mercenaries was shared on the heels of a South Korean intelligence report pointing to satellite imagery from August allegedly showing some 1,500 North Korean special forces being boarding Russian transports bound for the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.

Also last week, Ukrainian public broadcasting outlet LIGA cited Ukrainian intelligence officials as saying Russia was searching for approximately 18 North Koreans who had deserted just a few miles from the Ukrainian border.

Moscow and Pyongyang have drawn closer in recent months, with Putin making his first visit to North Korea in over two decades. His talks with Kim Jong Un, which rankled Seoul and Washington, led to the formation of a military assistance treaty.

Seoul has also accused North Korea of shipping thousands of containers filled with arms sent to replenish Russia’s depleted supplies. Satellite imagery captured in North Korean ports shows Russian transport ships collecting cargo, further supporting these claims​.

As for Chinese participation, Yuzhang stated during the broadcast that he has a list of 153 Chinese fighters who have been killed on his front line alone.

Although thousands of foreign fighters have fought for both Ukraine and Russia since the conflict began in February 2022, solid evidence of widespread Chinese involvement remains elusive.

Earlier this month, a member of a volunteer group based in the southwest Russian city of Novoshakhtinsk claimed on social media that two Chinese mercenaries had been killed in action.

While China officially maintains neutrality in the conflict, it has echoed Russia’s accusations that NATO expansion into Eastern Europe sparked the war. Additionally, China has been scrubbing anti-war sentiment from its domestic social media platforms, preventing criticism of the Kremlin from gaining traction.