It treated hundreds of Russian soldiers injured in the, confirmed the Moscow Ambassador in Pyongyang to state media, revealing new details about the support of the prisoner state to the Kremlin war effort.
Wounded Russian troops have been recovering in North Korean medical facilities, Alexander Matsegora ambassador to state agency Rossiyskaya Gazeta told an extensive interview published on Sunday.
“A clear example of this fraternal attitude [entre a Rússia e a Coreia do Norte] It is the rehabilitation of hundreds of injured soldiers (…) in Korean sanatoriums and hospitals, ”he said.
Russian envoy comments are the latest sign of the deepening of ties between the two countries, which have recently reached levels never seen since the Cold War.
North Korea sent about 12,000 soldiers to Russia, according to Ukrainian officials and Western secret services information, following the commitment made by Moscow and Pyongyang to help each other in case of attack by either countries in the field of a historical defense pact signed last June.
About 4,000 North Korean soldiers will have been killed or injured in combat after being highlighted to Kursk, at least since November, to repel Ukraine in the southern Russian border region, according to Ukrainian authorities and services Western secrets.
However, Russia has also received thousands of ammunition containers or materials related to North Korea ammunition, and Moscow forces launched North Korean missiles against Ukraine, according to US officials.
In his interview with the state media, Matsegora said North Korea had treated the injured Russian soldiers for free.
“When we offer ourselves to compensate for our friends [norte-coreanos] For at least part of their expenses, they were sincerely offended and asked us to never do it again, ”he said.
Matsegora also said that the children of the Russian troops killed in Ukraine spent a vacation in North Korea last summer and that Russia and North Korea are developing students’ exchanges.
Moscow provides pyongyang charcoal, food and medicines, he added.
South Korea’s secret services declined to comment on Matsegora’s statements.
The extent of potentially available care for North Korea’s health infrastructure troops remains unclear.
Doctors who have deserted in recent years often talk about poor working conditions and the scarcity of everything, from medicines to basic health material.
Some analysts also launched questions about Matsegora’s observations about troop recovery, pointing to Russia’s brutal military tactics as the Ukraine war is approaching its third anniversary.
Russia “has allegedly sent injured personnel back to the out of treatment groups, demonstrating a general disrespect for the health of soldiers,” the institute for the study of war in a press release on Monday, “claiming the allegations said,” Russian officers to be sending Russian soldiers abroad for treatment, particularly to North Korea. ”
However, any arrival of experienced, particularly official Russian troops in North Korea “may allow Russian military to work with the North Korean forces and spread the war lessons in Ukraine while recovering ostensibly,” added conflict monitor with US headquarters.
