Sources say North Koreans have deployed alongside Russian forces in Ukraine Ukraine

Sources say North Koreans have deployed alongside Russian forces in Ukraine Ukraine

North Korean military engineers have been deployed to help Russia target Ukraine with ballistic missiles, and fighters operating in occupied areas of the country have already been killed, senior officials in Kiev and Seoul said.

A source in Ukraine told The Guardian that there were dozens of North Koreans behind Russian lines, in teams “supporting KN-23 missile launch systems.”

Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, traveled last year to Russia for a summit with Vladimir Putin, where the two men cemented their deepening ties with a secret arms deal.

Pyongyang’s ammunition shipments were vital in allowing Russian forces to advance in a grinding war of attrition in eastern Ukraine this summer. But it seems increasingly clear that the agreement goes beyond merely supplying materiel.

North Koreans were among those killed after a Ukrainian missile attack on Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk last week, South Korean and Ukrainian officials said. It was not clear whether they were military engineers or other forces.

Foreigners have fought as mercenaries for Russia, but if the North Koreans are on the ground, it will be the first time a foreign government has sent troops in uniform to support Moscow’s war.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Jong-hyun told lawmakers in Seoul this week that it was “very likely” that North Korean officers were deployed to fight alongside the Russians, and that several had died in the attack, though he did not provide further details. .

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, said in a post on the Telegram app that some North Koreans were killed in Russia. His organization is part of the National Security and Defense Council.

The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that it had destroyed North Korean ammunition in a strike on a warehouse in the Bryansk region, 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the Ukrainian border.

Kim Jong Un presents a gift to Vladimir Putin at the Kumsusan State Guesthouse in Pyongyang in June. Photo: KCNA via KNS/AFP/Getty Images

Joining the war over Ukraine gives North Korea an opportunity to test weapons, gain combat experience for its forces, and strengthen its standing with a strong international ally.

“For North Korea, which has supplied Russia with many missiles and missiles, it is important to learn how to handle different weapons and gain real combat experience,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. He told Agence France-Presse. “This may also be a driving factor behind sending North Korean soldiers to provide them with diverse wartime experiences and training.”

North Korean missiles and missiles are of poor quality and unreliable, but they have been essential in keeping Russian guns relentless at the better-trained and motivated Ukrainian army.

A Ukrainian source said it was estimated that Pyongyang provided about half of the larger-caliber ammunition used on the battlefield this year, meaning more than two million rounds. Ukrainian media reported that Russia also provided KN-23 missiles, which were used in dozens of strikes across Ukraine last winter. After a hiatus of several months, they were deployed again as of July.

The KN-23 is a short-range ballistic missile that was first tested in 2019 and was compared to the Russian Iskander-M missiles. The missile’s range is believed to be about 280 miles when carrying a 500-kg warhead.

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied arms sales even as they have publicly celebrated deepening relations in recent months. The Kremlin on Thursday rejected the deployment of North Korean forces in Ukraine, describing it as “another kind of fake news.”

Kim described Putin as his “closest comrade” in a birthday message this week, and Putin made a state visit to North Korea in June, during which the two leaders signed a mutual assistance agreement.

In exchange for its missiles and other military equipment, North Korea is believed to be seeking Russian help with its satellite spying programme, which has faced embarrassing failures over the past two years.

It is not clear how far Russia is willing to go in exchanging sensitive military technology with North Korea in exchange for continued support in Ukraine.

Pyongyang, after decades of UN sanctions over its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs, is trying to strengthen its ties with Russia and China as part of an alliance against “Western hegemony and imperialism.”

This strategy paid off in March when Russia used its veto power in the UN Security Council to end UN monitoring of sanctions violations, a move that Pyongyang publicly welcomed.

Artem Mazulin contributed to this report.

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