Kim Jong Un Orders North Korean Troops in Ukraine to Self-Detonate Rather Than Surrender

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly instructed North Korean troops deployed to Russia’s war in Ukraine to kill themselves with grenades rather than risk capture, according to Daily NK on November 27.

Sources told the outlet that North Korean units now undergo twice-weekly political indoctrination sessions where commanders glorify soldiers who blew themselves up on the battlefield. These sessions promote the idea that such actions demonstrate loyalty to Kim and surpass the bravery of Russian troops fighting alongside them.

Propaganda framing borrows heavily from religious-style martyrdom narratives, the source said, including the slogan: “If you give your life, you’ll live forever.” Another newly promoted slogan urges troops to, “Learn from the warriors who blew themselves up.”

Experts in Seoul argue the message reflects a complete disregard for the lives of North Korean soldiers, who are being deployed to a foreign war and encouraged to die rather than be taken prisoner.

North Korea has already publicly decorated some of its troops for fighting on Russia’s behalf. On August 22, Kim Jong Un awarded medals to personnel who participated in combat operations in Ukraine. South Korean lawmakers later said, citing intelligence briefings, that roughly 2,000 North Korean soldiers sent to assist Russian forces had been killed. Pyongyang itself has admitted to losing about 350 troops during its two waves of deployments.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, North Korean troops remain in Russia—primarily in the Kursk region—where they are used for fortification work and engineering tasks rather than frontline combat.

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War in Ukraine

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Inside North Korea, officials frame the suicide doctrine as proof of ideological purity and unity. As one Daily NK source explained, the indoctrination campaign explicitly connects these battlefield deaths to the long-standing North Korean concept of “eternal life” associated with the Kim family. The message, the source said, effectively turns dying for Kim into a “badge of loyalty.”

Earlier, Russian pro-war bloggers claimed that soldiers from North Korea allegedly arrived in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region and may be preparing to fight near the town of Huliaypole. However, Head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, Andrii Kovalenko, reported that as of 9 a.m. on November 24, no North Korean troops were spotted in the Zaporizhzhia region.

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