The North Korean army is one of the world’s largest.​ As it joins Russia’s war against Ukraine, its soldiers are paying a price for Kim Jong-un’s geopolitical maneuvers.

After two years of intense courtship, progressing from warm words to vital weapons, summits in Pyongyang to 11,000 soldiers on the ground in Russia, the burgeoning relationship between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un was signed in blood this week when the first stories emerged of North Korean casualties on the Ukrainian battlefield.

North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia were given fake military documents with Russian names and birthplaces, the Ukrainian military said, amid claims from Kyiv that Russia is trying to conceal the presence of foreign fighters on the battlefield.

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.

According to Newsweek, the Ukrainian military has initiated strategic operations targeting North Korean soldiers operating under Moscow's command. Ad