The Ukrainian president, , has stated that Russia is treating the first group of North Korean soldiers well sent to the Federation, but that this situation will not last.
Zelensky, in an interview with the Japanese news agency, indicated that Russia was coddling those sent by Pyongyang, to try to attract tens of thousands more. However, he predicts that at some point those foreign troops will be sent to the front and it will be “indisputable“that the Russian president, Finally he will use them as “cannon fodder”. The same thing it has done with the Syrian, Chechen and even Yemeni militiamen that its Intelligence has detected since the “special military operation” began in February 2022.
Officials from the United States, Ukraine and South Korea say North Korea has sent thousands of troops to help Russia and It is believed that they have already entered into combat in the area of on Russian soil, an area partially occupied by Ukraine since August. Zelensky affirms that there are North Korean troops who have already died in the aforementioned region.
Zelensky said in his interview that there is evidence that around 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed so farand Dmytro Ponomarenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to South Korea, noted last month that the number of North Korean troops sent to Russia could reach 15,000with troops rotating every three months. That could mean that around 100,000 North Korean soldiers would serve in Russia within a yearwarning.
In June, the Pentagon warned that North Korean troops they would be treated badly by Russiain response to initial reports that North Korea was considering sending some of its military personnel to Russia. Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at the time that “if I were North Korea’s director of military personnel, I would question my decision to send my forces to be cannon fodder in an illegal war against Ukraine.
Russia has been accused of treating his own soldiers badly during the conflict, even.
Zelensky also warned on Sunday that the use of North Korean troops during the conflict could be dangerous for Asiasince those soldiers They would be trained by Russia and gain knowledge about combat in a modern warin areas such as the use of drones.
Mykola Bielieskov, a researcher at the National Institute for Strategic Studies of Ukraine, told the American media that even if the soldiers North Korea sends are well trained by its own standards, “I think their training would still be deficient in terms of the modern battlefield they have in the war between Russia and Ukraine.” “I think it’s safe to assume that They could be used as expendable infantry or simply thrown in as a mass of people“.
Bielieskov also said that while the estimated number of up to 12,000 North Korean troops in Kursk, right now it’s not huge by war standardsbut it could be enough to make a difference against Ukraine on one frontif that’s how they are used.
Last month, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun indicated that North Korean troops would likely be sent to the critical points of the war. Russian officials are likely to “send North Korean platoons to the most dangerous and difficult areas“he expressly noted.
According to South Korean intelligence, Russia is paying about $2,000 a month for each North Korean soldier. But North Korean military experts understand that the soldiers themselves are unlikely to see much of that: they are more likely to sYour regime will keep most, if not all, of the money.
