Kim Jong Un Praises North Korean Troops Who Opted for Self-Blasting in Ukraine War

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un publicly praised North Korean soldiers who “unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting, suicide attack” while fighting for Russia against Ukraine, framing the tactic as a matter of “the great honour.”

In a speech this week, Kim said those who “unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting, suicide attack, in order to defend the great honour” were “heroes,” according to state media KCNA as reported by the BBC.

ABP News

The BBC said Kim made the remarks in Pyongyang on Monday as he unveiled a memorial for fallen troops, with Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov and the speaker of Russia’s parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, among those who attended.

TVP World likewise described Kim’s speech as the first public acknowledgment that North Korean troops may follow a policy of killing themselves on the battlefield to avoid capture while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Newser, citing the BBC and Bloomberg, reported that Kim said, “They did not expect any compensation, though they performed distinguished feats,” and added, “They died a heroic death.”

The same BBC report said Kim also praised those who died in combat, including those who “fell in the vanguard of charges” and those who “writhed in frustration at the failure to fulfill their duties as soldiers who were given orders.”

The memorial remarks landed amid estimates and claims about North Korean troop involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine, particularly around the Kursk region.

The BBC reported that South Korea estimates at least 15,000 North Koreans have been sent to help Russia recapture parts of western Kursk, and that more than 6,000 have been killed so far, while “Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have confirmed the numbers.”

BBC

TVP World similarly said North Korea is believed to have sent around 14,000 troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, with most deployed during Moscow’s counteroffensive to push Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s Kursk region in spring 2025.

TVP World added that South Korean intelligence estimates about 6,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded in the conflict as of early this year, again noting neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has released official figures.

Kyiv Post reported that North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 to 15,000 troops to Russia between late 2024 and June 2025, and said neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has released official casualty figures.

The BBC further described how intelligence agencies and defectors have said the soldiers were under Pyongyang's orders to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner by Ukraine, and it cited South Korean broadcaster MBC airing a programme featuring two North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine, including one who said on camera he regretted not taking his own life.

The BBC and TVP World both tied Kim’s praise to a long-suspected battlefield policy aimed at preventing capture, describing how North Korean soldiers are taught that being captured is treason.

“North Korea and Russia have shared 'blood, life and death' during the war in Ukraine, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un stressed Friday as he sent his 2026 New Year's greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin”

Blick

The BBC said, “In North Korea, soldiers are taught that being captured is an act of treason,” and it reported that intelligence agencies and defectors have said the soldiers were under Pyongyang’s orders to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner by Ukraine.

It also cited MBC’s earlier broadcast of two North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine, where one prisoner said, “Everyone else blew themselves up. I failed.”

TVP World described the same theme as mounting evidence from intelligence and battlefield testimonies suggesting North Korean troops may be expected to kill themselves to avoid becoming Ukraine’s prisoners of war.

Kyiv Post likewise said the remarks appeared to confirm long-standing reports from Ukrainian, South Korean and Western officials that North Korean troops sent to Russia had orders to avoid capture at all costs, including by suicide.

In addition to the capture-avoidance framing, Newser reported that Kim said the soldiers had “wiped out the aggressors,” putting a stop to “the United States' and the West's hegemonic ambitions and military adventurism.”

The sources place Kim’s remarks within the broader Russia–North Korea alliance, including a mutual defense framework and ongoing commemorations.

The BBC said that in June 2024, Russian President Putin and Kim signed a deal pledging that their countries would help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country, and it added that Kim hailed the treaty as the “strongest ever.”

France 24

TVP World similarly said Russia and North Korea signed a deal in June 2024, including a mutual defense clause committing each side to provide military assistance if the other is attacked.

Kyiv Post reported that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said North Korea opened a new memorial in Pyongyang on April 26 for soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine, and it described the site as including graves for about 280 soldiers.

Kyiv Post also said that at the memorial opening, Kim described the campaign as “a new history of friendship between Korea and Russia written in blood,” and it reported that Putin sent Kim a letter calling the site a symbol of unity between Russia and North Korea.

Blick, focusing on a separate diplomatic moment, reported that Kim sent his 2026 New Year’s greetings to Vladimir Putin and stressed that North Korea and Russia had shared “blood, life and death in the same trench,” as published by KCNA.

The sources also describe what the public acknowledgment could mean for how the conflict is fought and how casualties are processed, while still leaving key figures unconfirmed.

“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has publicly confirmed that North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine were expected to kill themselves rather than be captured, Bloomberg reported”

Kyiv Post

The BBC said South Korea estimates at least 15,000 North Koreans have been sent to help Russia recapture parts of western Kursk and that more than 6,000 have been killed so far, but it emphasized that “Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have confirmed the numbers.”

Kyiv Post

TVP World said North Korea is believed to have sent around 14,000 troops and that South Korean intelligence estimates about 6,000 have been killed or wounded, again without official confirmation from Pyongyang or Moscow.

Kyiv Post reported that only two North Korean soldiers have been captured alive by Ukraine and that both are being held in the country, underscoring how the capture-avoidance policy would affect the availability of prisoners.

Newser added that Kim praised the tactic as “heroes,” and it quoted Kim’s line about “Their self-sacrifice expecting no compensation, and the devotion expecting no reward... This [is] the definition of the height of loyalty of our army.”

Blick reported that Kim acknowledged in a speech delivered December 12 that at least nine soldiers from a regiment of engineers were killed during a 120-day deployment to mine in the Russian Kursk region in August 2025, and it said Kim’s New Year’s greetings to Putin were published one day after ordering an increase in missile production for 2026.