The meat grinder strategy: North Korean troops sent to boost Russian forces are being ‘used as human mine detectors’ in Ukrainian fields

North Korean troops sent to support Russia are being used as ‘human mine detectors’ on the frontlines of the invasion of Ukraine, according to a military official. 

Thousands of North Korean soldiers have been sent to fight alongside Vladimir Putin’s beleaguered forces in Ukraine. 

But Lieutenant Colonel ‘Leopard’ of Ukraine’s 33rd ‘Big Cats’ Separate Assault Battalion revealed that their lives are worth little to their higher-ups. 

He told the Times: ‘The North Koreans have a “meat grinder” strategy. Where Ukrainians use a mine-clearing vehicle, they just use people.

‘They just walk in single file, three to four metres from each other, if one is blown up, then the medics go behind to pick up the dead, the crowd continues one after another. That’s how they pass through minefields.’

Leopard said that the soldiers sent by Kim Jong Un often refuse to be taken alive, preferring to be killed in battle or to simply run. 

Either way, he said, their commanders are apparently unfazed. 

The military official added that while North Korean soldiers aren’t anywhere near as heavily armed as their Russian counterparts, this will change the longer they are involved in the war. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a meeting of the country’s ruling party, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released on December 29, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un exchange documents during a signing ceremony of the new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024 

North Korean soldiers march during a mass military parade in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square to celebrate 100 years since the birth of North Korean founder, Kim Il Sung on April 15, 2012 

‘North Koreans use only small arms, machineguns, grenade launchers, mortars, maximum — that’s the extent of their technology’, he said. 

‘They do not use drones yet, only the Russians. But I suspect they are starting to learn this, and the longer the war drags on, the more likely they are to innovate’, he added. 

Earlier, the US warned that North Korea is ‘significantly benefiting’ from its troops’ deployment in Ukraine as it makes them a more capable fighting force. 

Deputy US ambassador Dorothy Camille Shea told the UN Security Council that nearly 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been training in Russia and fighting Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region. 

Shea said Kim Jong Un’s soldiers are ‘significantly benefiting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology and experience, rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbours.’

She added: ‘In turn, the DPRK will likely be eager to leverage these improvements to promote weapons sales and military training contracts globally.’

South Korea’s UN ambassador, Joonkook Hwang, told the council that North Korean soldiers are ‘essentially slaves to Kim Jong Un, brainwashed to sacrifice their lives on faraway battlefields to raise money for his regime and secure advanced military technology from Russia.’

Ukraine is in the midst of launching a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region and is facing a barrage of long-range missiles and ongoing advances from Russia as both sides seek to put themselves in the strongest negotiating point possible before trump takes office.

Zelensky called the Kursk offensive ‘one of our biggest wins,’ which has cost Russia and North Korea, which sent soldiers to help Russia in Kursk, thousands of troops. Zelenskyy said the offensive resulted in North Korea suffering 4,000 casualties, but U.S. estimates put the number lower at about 1,200.