The Ukrainian drone operators’ dark humor belies the deadly seriousness of their task. North Korean manpower significantly stiffened Russian assaults in Kursk, allowing the combined Russian-North Korean force to recapture the village of Plekhove, on the eastern edge of the salient, after three costly infantry attacks last weekend.

The assessment of drone vulnerability differs from an on-the-ground testimony obtained by the Kyiv Independent, in which a Special Forces serviceman disclosed how North Korean troops were well-protected by Russia’s electronic warfare,

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.