Disturbing drone footage has captured the moment that elderly Russians were forced out of their houses by cowardly North Korean soldiers.

       The soldiers who have been sent from the Asian country to bolster Vladimir Putin’s depleted forces can be seen in the footage ejecting pensioners from their homes into the brutal Russian winter.

       The footage, which is said to have occurred close to the frontline in the village of Makhnovka, Kursk region and was shared on Telegram channel InformNapalm.

       A message on the channel said: “North Korean soldiers drove local residents (Russians) out of their houses to hide [there]. Local elderly people were left in the cold, and their homes became shelters for North Korean soldiers.”

       A Ukrainian military source told the channel: “We know for sure that these were Koreans, not Russians, not only by their characteristic external features but also by other intelligence data.

       READ MORE: Putin blow as senior officers killed by UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile

       “On the streams that we watched, it was clearly visible that they were Koreans; we also know that they operated in that area and suffered significant losses.

       “Perhaps, in order to avoid death from drones, they decided to take cover with the local population and hide in their houses and drive the elderly people into the cold.”

       Ukraine currently occupies land in the Kursk region after it launched a spectacular, surprise offensive in August last year, the first time that a foreign army had occupied Russian soil since the Second World War.

       Ukrainian forces have dug into defensive positions to hold the land which analysts believe could be used as a bargaining chip in any potential “peace” negotiations.

       Russia has stepped up efforts to reclaim the territory, with some success and is believed to have deployed a substantial amount of the estimated 11,000 troops sent by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to the area.

       Don't miss...

       North Korea tensions ramp up as hermit country 'fires hypersonic missiles' [REPORT]

       Kim Jong-un inspects new seaside resort that's North Korea's Benidorm [INSIGHT]

       Ukraine's surprising 'counter-attack' in Russia mapped [LATEST]

       At the weekend, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky used his nightly address to claim that his forces had wiped out an entire military battalion - including large numbers of North Korean troops in a single day of fighting in the region.

       He said: “The occupier continues to waste an insane number of its people in assaults. And I thank each and every one of our units, all our brigades defending Ukrainian positions and eliminating the occupier.

       "Specifically, in battles today and yesterday near just one village - Makhnovka in the Kursk region - the Russian army lost up to a battalion of infantry, including North Korean soldiers and Russian paratroopers. And that’s tangible."