North Korean troops have been killed fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk border region, the US has said. These would be the first reported casualties since it emerged in October that North Korea had sent around 10,000 troops to reinforce Russia's war effort.

The Pentagon press secretary says some North Korean troops have died in combat but didn’t have a specific number of those killed or wounded.

Ukraine said on Monday that North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops suffered heavy losses during fighting at the weekend in the Russian region of Kursk.