Russia receives more than 8,000 troops from North Korea, including hundreds of drone operators who could attack Ukraine
Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, has said that Russia has deployed 8,500 North Korean troops in Kursk Oblast, including 400 drone operators who are likely to use UAVs to carry out attacks on Ukraine.
Source: CNN, citing Skibitskyi
Quote: "A new wave of North Korean troops, already numbering 8,500 in Russia, contains a drone unit that could attack targets inside Ukraine, according to a senior Ukrainian intelligence official."
Details: According to Skibitskyi, thousands of North Korean engineers and bomb disposal experts are mostly dispersed across Kursk Oblast. The North Korean forces deployed in Russia also include 400 UAV operators, many of whom already have experience, and whose drones are likely to be used both for reconnaissance and attacks on Ukraine.
Around 25,000 North Koreans have so far either been part of the forces deployed in Russia or passed through the Russian armed forces, Skibitskyi said. He said that Russia could request up to 50,000 more troops during a meeting between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in September.
As CNN writes, such a move would represent a significant expansion of military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang and would be another sign of Russia's limited resources, as it is prepared to accept assistance despite public claims about its economic resilience and military-industrial capabilities.
Ukrainian intelligence believes that the North Koreans sent to Russia will not fight on Ukrainian territory, but will reinforce Russia's rear positions, freeing up Russian troops for offensives in Ukraine.
According to Skibitskyi, in exchange for supplying Russia with personnel and ammunition, North Korea requested S-400 air defence systems and has already received a Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile system.
Background:
- On 25 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was preparing for the arrival of another 30,000 troops from North Korea, along with new launchers for ballistic missiles. Later, in early August, he reported that Russia had received additional ballistic missiles from North Korea and planned to deploy between 30,000 and 50,000 North Koreans on its territory.
- Also in early August, Defence Intelligence representative Andrii Cherniak said that a North Korean missile unit had begun deploying in Russia's Voronezh Oblast. It could reportedly be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for strikes against Ukraine. At the time, Pyongyang had already supplied Russia with a batch of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles and sent personnel.
- On 30 July, Russia used a North Korean missile to strike a village near Kryvyi Rih, killing six members of the same family. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the president's sanctions policy commissioner, said later that another crater from a North Korean KN-23 ballistic missile had been found, indicating that the Russians had launched at least two such missiles on Ukraine.
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