“They arrived totally unforeseen” and wrapped in “secretism”. Satellite images show hundreds of North Koreans to be transported to Russia

Satellite images show how hundreds of North Korean troops have been transported to a isolated Russian port

Hundreds of North Korean soldiers have probably been seared to Russia to fight in the war against Ukraine, according to satellite images, according to a new analysis of a US-based working group, exclusively with CNN.

At least two Russian ships will have transported North Korean soldiers to a Russian military port in Dunai, in the Far East, in October and November, according to researchers at James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies at the Institute for International Middlebury Studies, California.

Ship transfers were initially identified by South Korea National Information Service (NIS), which stated in a press release last year that some soldiers were transported through the North Korean port zones of Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan. At the time, however, the South Korean agency only made a pixelized radar image available.

“I do not believe that Russians or North Koreans want these transfers to be filmed,” says Sam Lair, an associate investigator at the Center for Non-Proliferation Studies, in statements to CNN. “The element of secretism is quite remarkable.”

Now the investigators have found that during the same period of time transfers of troops identified by the secret services of South Korea, the Russian ships identified by the spy agency docked in the port of Dunai, in a remote and eastern area of ​​Russia.

In North Korea, the soldiers probably embarked on these night ships, which made it difficult to capture the transfers, the investigators believe. But satellite images reveal activities in Dunai, “where the Russians seem to be less careful.”

For example, in a Planet Labs satellite image, you can see a crane to extend to one of the Russian Navy landing ships, which researchers believe it is Nikolay Vilkov, in Porto on October 17, and a covered load truck on the dock next to the dock. On October 20, the crane is collected and it seems that the transfer of soldiers is completed.

The investigators were able to identify the Russian ships of the “Ropuca Class” and the “Alligator class” in satellite images, as they coincide with photographs captured by the Japanese Ministry of Defense in March 2022, when ships passed through Japanese waters.

Each landing ship is believed to have a capacity of several hundred soldiers, possibly up to 400, according to the investigators.

Lair explained that Dunai is a safe military installation, making her much more conducive to discreet transfers than the great neighboring port of Vladivostok, which is in an area where civilians live.

“This is an isolated place where these exchanges can be made, where people will not notice, where their own citizens and people in the secret services community may not repair,” says Lair.

About 12,000 North Korean soldiers are estimated to have been sent to Russia, according to the Ukrainian authorities and Western secret services reports in January, which say about 4,000 of these soldiers were killed or injured. Kiev claims to have captured at least two North Korean soldiers. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang confirms the existence of North Korean troops on the front lines.

CNN contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comments.

North Korean troops have been highlighted in Kursk since late October to repel Ukraine in the southern border region of Russia.

“Russians seem to be very careful to limit the exposure of North Korean soldiers, transferring them directly to military training facilities. It is not clear what the reason behind all the secretism around the North Koreans, but the passage of some of them by Dunai would help in this effort, ”says Lair.

The port of Dunai was previously used for cargo transportation between Russia and North Korea since Pyongyang began to help in the invasion of Ukraine in 2023, according to James Martin Center for non -proliferation studies.

Satellite images captured in October show a cargo ship to be carried in the port of Rajin, North Korea, and the same ship delayed two days later in Dunai, Russia.

A October 2023 report by the British working group The Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies (Rusi) concluded that “Russia probably began sending a large-scale North Korean ammunition” to the “discrete naval installation” hidden in Dunai.

“We spent a long time to analyze North Korea in general, due to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, its conventional weapons program, its missile programs. So we have been monitoring the North Russian Korea connection since its inception, in part because we believe this relationship may be done in both directions,” explains Lair.

Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the New Europe Center Work Center in Kiev, said in a South Korea forum this week that North Korea is gaining a valuable combat experience with her involvement in Ukraine.

“It’s not just about providing missiles, it’s about testing your missiles in real battlefield conditions,” Getmanchuk warned during the Forum at the Goethe Institute in Seoul.

According to the researcher, North Korea used this experience to update missiles, making them more accurate.

Pyongyang’s land troops are also improving, according to Getmanchuk.

“They arrived totally unforeseen. They are now learning very quickly, ”adapting their tactics to be effective in the“ modern and high -tech war, ”he added.

In Lair’s understanding, the relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow has been deeper since the beginning of the invasion. “Send your own soldiers to fight in the conflict against another country really suggests the strength of the connection,” he says.

There are indications that Russia and North Korea are no longer using the sea route to carry troops, according to the working group. However, South Korean secret services reported that Russian military aircraft are often flying between Vladivostok and Pyongyang.