These days Russia and North Korea are writing a new battlefield history together. North Korea has dispatched some 12,000 troops to fight in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. The soldiers are believed to be some of North Korea’s most elite,

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday Kyiv is ready to hand over captured North Korean soldiers to their leader Kim Jong Un if he can facilitate their exchange for Ukrainians held captive in Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to release North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia in exchange for Ukrainian soldiers being held captive in Russia.

There is mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia's three-year war with Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to return them to North Korea should its leader, Kim Jong Un, arrange for Ukrainian soldiers to be released.

North Korea is gaining crucial military experience and equipment by sending troops to Russia, a U.S. official warned the United Nations, making the regime a growing threat to neighboring countries.

The United States warned on Wednesday that North Korea is benefiting from its troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, gaining experience that makes Pyongyang "more capable of waging war against its neighbors.

North Korea has instructed its soldiers fighting in Russia and Ukraine to commit suicide in the face of capture, and evidence suggests they're doing as told, according to South Korean and Ukrainian officials.

A Pentagon spokesperson said Monday the deployment of North Korean troops to a Russian front-line region makes the fighting "much harder" for Ukrainian forces.