Russia may deploy North Korean troops in border regions
Russia may use North Korean military personnel to replace its own units in regions bordering Ukraine. This would allow the Kremlin to free up Russian troops and redeploy them to the most active sections of the front.
According to Bratchuk, Moscow may view North Korean units as a way to compensate for the shortage of personnel in its own army.
“It is quite likely that there are 15,000 to 20,000—perhaps even fewer—combat-ready Russian soldiers; they will redeploy these reservists, as it were, from the territory of the Russian Federation to the hottest sectors of the front,” he said.
The spokesperson suggested that North Korean troops could replace Russian units currently stationed in border regions.
“It’s clear that the Kremlin’s attempt to use these units is aimed at freeing up exclusively Russian combat units currently stationed along the Russian border and redeploying them to the most active sectors of the Russian-Ukrainian front. Well, essentially, the North Koreans will replace them there,” Bratchuk noted.
According to the spokesperson’s assessment, this primarily concerns the DPRK’s infantry and engineering-construction units.
Among the possible locations for their deployment, Bratchuk named:
- the Kursk region;
- the Belgorod region;
- the Bryansk Oblast;
- the northwestern part of the Voronezh Oblast.
At the same time, the question of direct participation by North Korean military personnel in combat operations on Ukrainian territory remains open.
A language barrier could pose a separate problem in the event of joint operations between Russian and North Korean units, Bratchuk noted.
Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, made this statement on television.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Russian Federation, as an aggressor state, is preparing to escalate the war against Ukraine. According to him, Moscow is ramping up production of ballistic missiles, bringing in North Korean military equipment, and preparing for mobilization. Zelenskyy called on partners to intensify sanctions pressure on Russia and provide Ukraine with more air defense capabilities.
