North Korean Troops Positively Identified In Russia

Videos taken surreptiously, probably by curious Russian soldiers, have appeared revealing that Korean troops with North Korean accents are already in Russia for training to deploy to Ukraine.

The North Koreans are being issued fake ID cards and unit patches suggesting they are Russian Yakuts or Buryats from Siberia along with Russian uniforms to disguise their true identity. JL

The Kyiv Post reports:

Pyongyang and Moscow are preparing 11,000 troops in Russia’s Far East to be sent to Ukraine by Nov. 1. Some North Korean troops were already present in and near Ukraine, where some were killed with 18 more deserted. "1,500 North Korean special forces” have arrived in various bases in Russia’s Far East before their deployment to Ukraine. North Korean troops to be sent to Ukraine would be issued with fake ID cards of residents of the Yakutia and Buryatia regions of Siberia on top of Russian uniforms and weapons in a bid to conceal their identity.

Kyiv Post sources have confirmed that Korean was spoken in two separate videos alleging Pyongyang troops’ presence in Russia. 

Both videos began circulating on Friday evening. One was taken in an open field, where troops could be seen running on a dirt path in formation, while another depicted troops picking up supplies in a room, ostensibly before their combat deployment. 

Seoul’s spy agency announced on Friday – with satellite imageries – that “1,500 North Korean special forces” have arrived in various bases in Russia’s Far East before their deployment to Ukraine.

 

In the first video, a Russian soldier in uniform – with an insignia on his shoulder – commented on the troops marching before him and called them foreign reinforcements, claiming that “millions” of them would come to reinforce the troops.

 

Kyiv Post’s source in South Korea confirmed that the person likely said “Hey don’t stay there, do something and go” in Korean (“야 이마 저기에 있지마”). 

The matching insignia on the soldier’s shoulder and the gate indicate that the first video was likely taken at a Russian military facility.

 

In another video, troops of Asian appearance with Russian uniforms could be seen queuing up for equipment, with more audible speeches available that are confirmed to be Korean.

 

Between 0:08 and 0:09, a verbal exchange between two soldiers were clearly heard, which Kyiv Post’s source in South Korea, as well as Seoul’s KBS News, has established that one asked about the content in the box, with another answering “water.”

In one instance, a person could be heard saying “Take that” (“저거 가져 가거라”) in Korean. Kyiv Post’s source noted that the accent was atypical for those from South Korea.

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Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security claimed the second video was taken at a training ground in a town called Sergeevka in Russia’s Primorsky Krai, Kyiv Post established through geolocation that the first video was also taken at the same facility. 

Though Kyiv Post cannot confirm the location with certainty, it was likely taken at a three-way junction next to a building with a red roof, where a large building could be seen in the distance to the right.

Seoul’s spy agency, in its Friday press release, also claimed that a high-ranking North Korean officer was present in August on the Ukrainian front to supervise and instruct the use of Pyongyang’s KN-23 missile at Moscow’s behest. 

Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said Friday that Pyongyang and Moscow are preparing 11,000 troops in Russia’s Far East to be sent to Ukraine by Nov. 1, with his agency earlier claiming that some North Korean troops were already present in and near Ukraine, where some were killed with 18 more deserted. 

Kyiv and Seoul both claimed that the North Korean troops to be sent to Ukraine would be issued with fake ID cards of residents of the Yakutia and Buryatia regions of Siberia on top of Russian uniforms and weapons in a bid to conceal their identity.