According to Gerry Connolly, sending North Korean troops to the front demonstrates a certain weakness of Russia.
Congressman Gerry Connolly
By sending its troops to the war in Ukraine, North Korea wants to gain combat experience. This was stated in an interview with Radio Liberty by the head of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, US Congressman Gerry Connolly.
“They have one of the largest armies in the world, but they have little combat experience – none at all. The last time they fought was in the Korean War. So, that’s 70 years ago. There are virtually no soldiers left from that war. To get combat experience – where do you go if you’re North Korea? Well, they were invited by the Russians to fight in Ukraine. I think there are clear objectives that the North Koreans have for themselves,” Connolly said.
In his opinion, this shows a certain weakness of Russia. Do you need North Korean troops to be deployed in Europe for military operations in Ukraine? Really? And why does Russia need this? Maybe because, frankly speaking, the Russian potential is exhausted?” the head of the PA added.
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He notes that Russia was the dominant partner in North Korea during the Korean War. And now it is North Korea that supplies Russia with weapons, as well as troops. The same is true of China – many of the early communist revolutionaries, like Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai and their associates, were trained in Moscow. And it was Russia that armed the Chinese revolutionaries who eventually seized power in China.
“But now it is China that dominates the relationship with Russia, which is counting on China for help. This is also a sign of how Vladimir Putin’s influence has diminished and his vulnerability has increased. The fact that he has to turn to these countries to continue his terrible war in Ukraine says a lot,” Connolly says.
Transfer of North Korean troops to Russia. What is known
- The KyivPost publication, citing intelligence sources, reported that on October 3, as a result of a missile strike by the Defense Forces on an enemy concentration near Donetsk, 20 servicemen were killed, six of whom turned out to be North Korean officers. Three more DPRK representatives were wounded.
- Last week, a report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that several thousand North Korean troops were being trained in Russia and could likely be deployed to the front lines in the future.
- This week, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that North Korean officers were already in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
- According to the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kirill Budanov, 11,000 North Korean troops are currently training in Russia, some of whom have been deployed to the Kursk region.
- The Center for Countering Disinformation reported that Russia will mix North Korean troops with Buryats for “camouflage.”
- On October 18, the Strategic Communications Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed a video of North Korean soldiers receiving Russian equipment at one of the Russian training grounds.
- On the same day, South Korean President Yun Sok-yol called an emergency meeting due to the movement of DPRK troops to Russia.
- South Korean intelligence confirmed after the meeting that North Korea had decided to send its troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine and had already begun deploying its forces. We are talking about 12,000 troops, including representatives of elite units.
- North Korean soldiers are currently deployed, in addition to Vladivostok, in Ussuri, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk, where they are integrated into Russian military units. The North Koreans received Russian uniforms and were also provided with fake IDs to pass them off as Russians.
- Upon completion of the adaptation training, the North Koreans will be sent to the front lines.
- Meanwhile, the head of the US House of Representatives Committee on Intelligence, Mike Turner, sent an open letter to President Joe Biden regarding information about Russia's involvement of North Korean troops in the war in Ukraine.
- France believes that the involvement of the DPRK military in the war in Ukraine will provoke a serious escalation.
- According to South Korean intelligence, the DPRK has transferred about 1,500 special operations forces to Vladivostok (Russia).
- The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, Andrei Kovalenko, reported that satellites are recording the movement of 12,000 troops from the DPRK.
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