Recently, multiple countries confirmed that North Korea has dispatched troops to Russia. According to a report by CNN, on October 25th, the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency released audio intercepted from Russian military communications, revealing concerns within the Russian ranks about the coordination and supply of munitions to the North Korean military.
In these audio recordings, Russian soldiers denigrated North Korean troops, code-named “K Battalion.” One Russian soldier referred to the North Koreans using a derogatory term for Chinese. In another segment of the conversation, a Russian military member described a comrade assigned to receive the North Korean forces, saying, “He just stood there, eyes wide open, with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Damn it, he even came over to talk to us, and he has no idea how to handle these people.'”
The Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency noted that they intercepted this audio on the evening of October 23rd from a secure Russian military channel. They analyzed it and concluded that North Korean troops were scheduled to be deployed to a field camp in Postoyalye Dvory, Kursk Oblast, on the morning of October 24th. Earlier this year, Ukrainian forces conducted a surprise attack and seized parts of the Kursk region.
The recordings also indicated that each group of 30 North Korean troops would be accompanied by one translator and three senior Russian officers, which caused further dissatisfaction among the Russian soldiers. One commented, “What I don’t understand is why 30 North Koreans require three senior officers. Where are we supposed to find that many personnel? We still need to shift people around.”
In another part of the audio, a Russian soldier disclosed, “Tomorrow there will be 77 battalion commanders arriving, including commanding officers, deputy commanders, and others.”
On October 25th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he had received a report from the Ukrainian chief commander regarding the deployment of North Korean troops. He said, “Intelligence suggests that the Russian military will deploy the first batch of North Korean troops in the combat zone on the 27th and 28th. This is clearly an escalation by Russian forces, distinct from the recent disinformation circulated in Kazan.”
Initially, the Kremlin denied the presence of North Korean troops, but during a summit in Kazan on the 24th, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not refute the reports. On October 25th, North Korea responded through state media, stating that any deployment of troops to Russia in support of the war in Ukraine would be in accordance with international law, though it did not explicitly confirm the operation.
