- More than 100 elite North Korean troops have been killed of their first battles in Russia, per South Korean intel.
- About 1,000 extra have been wounded within the preventing, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service mentioned.
- The troops are ill-prepared for drone assaults and the native terrain, the company added.
More than 100 of North Korea’s finest “Storm” troops have been killed and 1,000 extra injured preventing alongside Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, South Korean intelligence mentioned.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service advised lawmakers on Thursday that the troops’ losses got here of their first battles for Russia, The New York Times reported.
Lee Seong-kweun, a South Korean lawmaker, additionally advised reporters {that a} general-ranking officer could possibly be among the many lifeless, the report mentioned.
North Korean troops arrived in Russia in October. Ukraine mentioned the next month that it attacked North Korean forces for the primary time.
Since then, North Korean troop losses have mounted. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned that based mostly on preliminary estimates, over 3,000 North Korean troopers had been killed or wounded in Russia’s Kursk area.
North Korean troops are primarily preventing in that area, the place Ukraine launched an offensive in August.
North Korea’s Storm Corps are among the many most well-trained in Pyongyang’s army, in addition to essentially the most indoctrinated, the Times reported.
Despite that elite standing, they have been nonetheless not prepared for the battle in Ukraine, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service mentioned.
The company advised lawmakers that they have been poorly ready for drone assaults and the native terrain.
It’s not the primary time stories have prompt North Korea’s forces are ill-prepared for the battle.
The BBC reported that the Storm troops get extra superior coaching than different troopers, however they’re nonetheless underfed and a few seem malnourished.
Ukrainian officers and troopers have additionally mentioned that North Korean troops have been killed by drones that they didn’t notice have been harmful.
Ukrainian intelligence beforehand reported that North Korean troops unintentionally killed eight Russian troopers in Kursk, describing it as a “pleasant fireplace” incident brought on by a language barrier.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service advised lawmakers that North Korean troops have been despatched to Russia so shortly that Moscow couldn’t correctly combine them into the army. They solely realized just a few army phrases in Russian, reminiscent of “open fireplace,” “artillery,” and “in place,” earlier than being despatched to battle.
But warfare specialists warn that the troops’ potential affect shouldn’t be dismissed, particularly on condition that Russia’s techniques have been to make use of poorly skilled troopers to overwhelm Ukraine.
For its half, Ukraine is reportedly making an attempt to get North Korean troops to give up, making movies and dropping leaflets on troops in a bid to get them to abandon. It has additionally warned that Russia will deal with North Korean troops like disposable cannon fodder, because it seems to have completed with lots of its personal troops.
However, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service mentioned that North Korea seemed to be getting ready to place extra troops in Russia, the Times reported.
Zelenskyy additionally predicted that North Korean troopers could be despatched to the entrance traces in Ukraine in some unspecified time in the future.
