Russian forces have provided night vision and thermal imaging equipment to North Korean soldiers for possible deployment in Ukraine.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine reports that Russia transferred more than 7,500 North Korean military personnel in late October from its Primorsky Krai area to areas near Ukraine.
Ukrainian intelligence reported in October that 11,000 North Korean soldiers had been trained in Russia and were likely to engage in a war against Ukraine in the near future. The US estimates that there are about 10,000 troops while Seoul and its allies estimate 12,000
According to Ukraine’s HUR (Hur), the transfer of North Korean troops was carried out using at least 28 Russian Aerospace Forces military transport aircraft.
North Korean soldiers are equipped with infantry weapons including 60mm mortars and AK-12 assault guns, RPK/PKM machines guns, SVD/SVCH sniper sniper rifles as well as Phoenix anti-tank system, RPG-7s.
According to Ukraine’s intelligence, the North Koreans or’special Buryats,’ as they are known in the Russian Army, were also issued night vision devices, thermo imagers and collimator sights.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, said on 13th October that Russia and North Korea “strengthened their alliance” by going beyond weapons to include “transfers of people” to Russian Forces. The next day, he said that North Korea “effectively joined” in the war against Ukraine.
On 14 October, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented to the State Duma a treaty of “comprehensive partnership” with North Korea. The agreement signed in June 2024 was ratified by the State Duma on 24 October.
On 23 October, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that North Korean soldiers were indeed in Russia.
North Korea dismissed the reports as “groundless speculations,” and its UN representative said that DPRK/Moscow relations were “legitimate, based on cooperation.”
Please read:
* BI – Russia retakes territory in Kursk Oblast but an extended push into Ukraine’s strongholds could stall
* US claims 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk Oblast
* NATO confirms the presence of North Korean soldiers within Russia’s Kursk Oblast
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