Brussels, 28 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) – Over 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday at the headquarters of the military alliance.

Rutte also confirmed the deployment of North Korean soldiers to fight on the Russian side in Kursk, a region seized by Ukraine. Evidence of the soldiers' presence in Russia has been building over the past weeks.

The deployment is a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "growing desperation," Rutte said, adding that Putin is "unable to sustain his assault in Ukraine without foreign support."

Rutte denounced the "deepening military cooperation" between Moscow and Pyongyang and called on democracies to uphold their shared values and support Ukraine.