Western officials have told the BBC that North Korean troops have already suffered nearly 40% casualties in the fighting in Russia's western Kursk region, in just three months.

Soldiers of the 8th Regiment of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces resisted a North Korean assault in Russia’s Kursk Oblast for eight hours before retreating, killing 21 and wounding 40 soldiers, the unit said on Jan.

Ukrainian forces described a different kind of enemy, fighting with unfamiliar tactics and little option to retreat.

The unprecedented loss of life in a foreign conflict means that the war in Ukraine could be the Kim regime’s most significant test since the 1990s famine.

Ukraine’s president released a video of the two soldiers being interrogated, revealing they knew little about the war they were sent to fight in.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s willing to hand over the soldiers to North Korea, if Kim Jong Un arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this month that as many as 4,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded in recent weeks, with only two captured alive. Both men were wounded and transferred to custody in Kyiv, where Zelenskyy said they are being interrogated and treated for their injuries.

Videos of captured North Korean troops posted online by Ukrainian President Zelensky show them admitting that they thought they were being sent on an exercise.

Ukrainian forces detailed the capture of a North Korean soldier on the western Kursk front in Russia on Tuesday.