North Korean troops have returned to the frontline in Ukraine despite suffering thousands of casualties since joining the conflict.
According to the UK’s Ministry of Defence, Pyongyang forces temporarily withdrew from the conflict “for a period of rest and refit” after a brutal introduction to the conflict last year.
The MoD’s latest update on the war, which began three years ago today when Russia invaded its neighbour, says that was almost certainly because more than a third of North Korea’s 11,000 troops had been killed or wounded.
They are now believed to be back on the frontline in Kursk, where Russia is trying to reclaim land seized by Ukraine six months ago.
The MoD update says it is “likely” that Ukraine still controls between 400 and 450 square kilometres of Kursk.
Meanwhile, Russia is continuing to attack urban areas in Donetsk as well as less-populated parts of Ukraine.
That is despite Donald Trump insisting Vladimir Putin wants to agree a peace deal to end the war.