Russia is assembling a “coalition of criminals,” blasted Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia is gathering huge numbers of North Koreans to fight in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official told POLITICO.
“They are called the Buryat Battalion … there are some 3,000 North Koreans there,” the official said, when granted anonymity to candidly discuss the sensitive topic.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday said that Ukraine is now fighting against two states.
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The Kyiv Independent reported, citing an anonymous Western official, that Pyongyang has so far actually sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia to boost its war effort in Ukraine.
3,000 could easily consist entirely of technical trainers, service, support, communications, and logistics personnel, all dealing with North Korean weapons platforms being deployed in theater.
None of that changes the fact that they are a separate state, engaging in active warfare in Ukraine, alongside Russia. But I’m skeptical that this is a cannon fodder battalion. It’s possible, I just haven’t read any credible reports that have convinced me of that, yet.
One of the reasons I’m more skeptical, is because that would open the door for more overt and direct actions from countries like Poland. There’s already additional countries helping Ukraine on the ground in similar capacities, weapons trainers, support staff, intelligence, etc, and this seems to somewhat mirror that.
There’s also not many sources I trust less in these types of pieces then, “anonymous Western official”.
Of course, all of my assumptions could be wrong, but I’m going to need more confirmed evidence than what I’ve seen so far in regards to these being cannon for a meat grinder, versus trying technical staff, rear echelon support for DPRK weapons platforms, and NK officers looking for knowledge and experience to bring back home to better develop their own military.
Any NK soldier that isn’t a technician is effectively cannon fodder in Ukraine. The DRK hasn’t fought an armed conflict since its founding. They may be experts at marching parades, but have no actual combat experience.
I’ve been wondering if that’s why they entered the conflict. To get some experience for the military in a way that was relatively low-risk to the nation.