Karina Bovsunovskaya09:12, 24.10.24

According to South Korean intelligence, the DPRK troops being sent to Ukraine are well trained.

North Korean troops disguised as Buryats and Yakuts have been sent to help Russia retake the Kursk region , which has been partly held by Ukrainian forces since August, according to video footage released by South Korea’s intelligence service, the Financial Times reports .

Ukrainian analysts say the force is likely too small to turn the tide of the war, with Russia needing to double its 50,000 troops in the Kursk region to dislodge the Ukrainian military and launch a new wave of mobilization to make gains along the front lines in Ukraine.

At the same time, Jack Watling, a senior research fellow in land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in the UK, believes that North Korea’s ability to help Russia replenish its troops could create even more difficulties for Ukraine.

“They may have good enough cohesion. They may have enough morale. They may be able to operate on the scale that the Russians are trying [to achieve]. That’s a low enough bar to be better than the Russians are now,” the expert emphasized.

The FT noted that North Korean troops are reinforcing the Russian army at a time when Russia is trying to increase its forces due to huge losses in Ukraine. According to Western officials, they amount to more than 600,000 killed and wounded.

Western intelligence also has information that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has not heeded requests from his top leadership to order a new wave of mobilization.

Watling noted that while Russia may face command and control issues with North Korean forces, its experience of operating with Iranian-backed forces and militias in the Syrian civil war “will give Moscow’s commanders a clear model to draw on.”

In turn, the National Intelligence Service of South Korea reports that the troops being sent to Russia belong to the 11th Army of the DPRK, an elite unit called the “Storm Corps.”

“These are not ordinary North Korean soldiers, most of whom have never had proper combat training. They are well-equipped, highly trained mobile light infantry,” said Go Myong-hyun, a senior researcher at the South Korean state-run Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul.

At the same time, the FT emphasizes that the DPRK troops will arrive at a time when Russia has pushed back the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Kursk region, reducing the territory it holds to 600-700 sq. km in October from about 1,000 sq. km at the end of August.

Watling also added that Russia’s goal is to put Ukraine in a situation where holding the entire front line would be impossible, since the occupiers would be putting pressure on the Ukrainian military at several different points along the front line at once.

“Ukraine constantly pays for the maintenance of this territory in the Kursk region,” he said.

(C)UNIAN 2024