The Ukrainian military has claimed that among the North Korean troops dispatched to Russia, around 7,000 were deployed to the Ukrainian border at the end of last month.
In material released on the 2nd local time, the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency stated, “As of the last week of October, Russia has relocated over 7,000 soldiers from the North Korean army from Russia’s coastal areas to areas near Ukraine.”
Additionally, it was reported that “Russia has provided the North Korean troops with 60mm mortars, AK-12 rifles, RPK/PKM machine guns, SVD/SVF sniper rifles, Phoenix anti-tank guided missiles, and portable anti-tank grenade launchers.”
The report further noted that the North Korean soldiers have been equipped with night vision goggles, thermal imaging cameras, spectral sights, binoculars, and are undergoing training at five schools in Russia’s Far East.
The Defense Intelligence Agency explained that Russian forces refer to the North Korean soldiers as “special Buryats.”
Buryats are an indigenous Mongolian group living in the Russian autonomous republic north of Mongolia, and there have been claims that North Korean troops dispatched to Russia have carried Buryat documentation.