The first North Korean soldier taken prisoner of war by Ukrainian forces while fighting for Russia has died of his injuries, South Korean intelligence said Friday.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that Russia was trying to "conceal losses" of North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine.

North Korean soldiers sent to aid Russia in its fight against Ukraine are dying in droves and some of them have even chosen suicide over surrender, according to officials. More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers were killed fighting in the Kursk region this past week — almost 10% of its deployment to Russia — after generals ordered a “human wave” attack,

Putin apologized for the “tragic incident” in Russian airspace, but the Kremlin did not take responsibility for downing the Azerbaijan Airlines flight.

The UK foreign office has criticised Russia after President Vladimir Putin apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart over a plane crash in Russian airspace that left dozens dead.Mr Putin said he was sorry “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace” during a call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Saturday.