There are about 11 000 North Korean soldiers in the east of Russia who are being trained to participate in hostilities in Ukraine.
This was reported by the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (known as GUR) of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with The War Zone publication.
"They will be ready [to fight in Ukraine] on November 1," Budanov stressed.
According to him, North Korean troops will use Russian equipment and ammunition. The first division, numbering 2 600 soldiers, will go to Kursk, where Ukraine established a bridgehead for which fierce battles were fought. Where the remaining North Korean troops will be sent is still unclear, he added.
Union of Russia and North Korea
On October 4, Kyiv Post, citing Ukrainian intelligence, reported that six North Korean officers were killed a day earlier in an attack by the Armed Forces near occupied Donetsk. An anonymous Ukrainian official told The Guardian that North Korean military engineers are helping Russian troops strike Ukraine with North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles.
Already on October 8, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said that the agreements between Russia and North Korea resemble a military alliance, therefore there is a high probability that the military from the DPRK is fighting on the side of the Russian Federation in Ukraine — and their number may increase. In a few days, President Zelensky confirmed that North Korea supplies Russia not only with weapons, but also with personnel for the military forces.
"Babel" intelligence sources said on October 1 that a "special Buryat battalion" staffed by citizens of the DPRK is being formed at the base of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Federation.
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