About 3 000 soldiers from the DPRK were brought from the Far East to the Kursk region of the Russian Federation and placed in barracks on October 28, about 50 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
The Financial Times (FT) writes about this with reference to sources in Ukrainian intelligence.
According to South Korean intelligence, the first military personnel from the DPRK, who arrived in Russia at the beginning of October, belong to the elite 11th Army Corps of the North Korean army, known as the "Assault Corps".
Ukrainian intelligence doubts the combat capabilities of the North Koreans, considering them "inexperienced foot soldiers."
"They have never left their country before... They have never fought in real battles, and their experience is very far from the reality of modern warfare," a senior Ukrainian intelligence officer told reporters.
Only in recent weeks, soldiers from North Korea have seen for the first time the various types of drones that are constantly used in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Ukrainian officials suggest that the North Koreans could be used as "cannon fodder" — a brutal but effective attack tactic that Russia has used repeatedly.
One of the Ukrainian officials noted that with the use of North Korean troops as attack aircraft, the probability of their capture increases, and this will destroy the version of Moscow and Pyongyang, which deny their participation in the war against Ukraine.
Participation of the North Korean military in the war against Ukraine
Ukrainian intelligence reported on October 24 that the first soldiers from the KDPR had already arrived at the front. Their presence was recorded on October 23 in the Kursk region of Russia. According to intelligence, approximately 12 000 military personnel were sent from North Korea to Russia, including 500 officers, including three generals. President Zelensky said that they were to be used in the first battles on October 27-28.
The National Intelligence Service of South Korea reported that the first part of the military was transported by ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet to Vladivostok on October 8-13, they were given Russian uniforms, weapons and fake Russian passports to hide their participation in the war.
Soon after that, videos about the training of North Koreans at Russian training grounds began to appear on the Internet, and Babelʼs sources said that they were being trained in such cities as Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Blagoveshchensk, and Vladivostok. On the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Federation, a "special Buryat battalion" staffed by citizens of the DPRK is being formed.
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing a former Russian spy, wrote that the strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea, which Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed in June, contains a secret clause. According to the agreement, the DPRK will be able to send approximately a thousand of its soldiers to Ukraine at first, and later more.
The head of GUR Kyrylo Budanov says that in exchange for soldiers, North Korea receives money and nuclear technology from Russia.
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