North Korea has been supplying Moscow’s military with long-range rockets and artillery systems, some of which were transferred to Russia’s Kursk region for attacks involving North Korean soldiers to eliminate Ukrainian forces, it has been learned. This was revealed in an assessment by the Ukrainian intelligence service.
In recent weeks, North Korea has acquired around 50 domestically produced 170mm M1989 self-propelled howitzers and an advanced 240mm multiple rocket system capable of firing standard and guided rockets, according to an assessment shared with the Financial Times. It is said that 20 units have been provided.
The delivery of new weapons from North Korea marks a recent increase in the authoritarian state’s support for Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Michael Coffman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said they would deepen North Korea’s involvement by “sending large amounts of ammunition and weapons, potentially becoming a direct party to this war and helping to retake Russian forces.” He said it follows a pattern. Kursk region.
He noted that North Korea is already playing an important role in providing millions of shells to the Russian military in 2023.
It has deepened its involvement this year, sending more than 12,000 troops and further internationalizing the conflict, according to estimates by Western intelligence agencies.
“North Korea has now become Russia’s accomplice and is supporting President Putin in this illegal war,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a speech after meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Kiev on Saturday.
“I have reported [Iwaya] “It’s about the activities of the North Korean military in the Kursk region, about all the threats posed by cooperation between North Korea and Russia,” Zelenskiy added. “Russia is training North Korea in modern warfare, which could cause further widespread destabilization.”
The delivery comes at a crucial time as Ukrainian and Russian forces battle for territorial superiority ahead of the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has vowed to quickly end the nearly three-year war. It was held on.
Ukrainian authorities provided information about the weapon after photos of a North Korean howitzer began circulating on social media this week.
That photo, Open source analysts were able to obtain geolocation information Several howitzers covered in camouflage netting were shown being transported west by rail to the Krasnoyarsk region in central Russia.
The heavy weapons system can fire shells up to 60km away. Manufactured in 1989, the M1989 howitzer is a slightly upgraded version of the original M1979 model first produced in the late 1970s and supplied by North Korea to Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war.
The upgraded rocket system is based on the Soviet-designed BM-27 “Ulagan”, or Hurricane system, a self-propelled 220 mm multiple rocket launcher designed to fire cluster munitions. In May, North Korea announced that it had successfully tested an advanced precision-guided missile system.
A senior Ukrainian official told the FT that North Korea now wants to test the weapon in combat. Kiev expects it to be used against its forces, which currently occupy about 600 square kilometers of territory within Russia’s Kursk region.
According to Ukrainian and Western intelligence officials, Russia has amassed 50,000 troops, including 10,000 North Korean soldiers equipped with Russian uniforms and weapons, and is preparing for an attack that could occur at any time.
Ukrainian forces in Kursk have lost almost half of the 1,100 square kilometers of territory they captured in the surprise invasion in August, military analysts say. Kiev wants to keep 600 square kilometers under its control as leverage in future negotiations with Russia.
But with Russian forces marching across much of the 1,000-kilometre front, North Korean forces reinforcing their ranks and Ukrainian forces exhausted and depleted, they face a difficult task.
In recent months, Russia has used its superiority in manpower and firepower to capture more than 1,200 square kilometers of Ukraine, according to Deep State, a Kiev-based war-tracking group with close ties to the Defense Ministry. It is said that he did.
The group said nearly 500 square kilometers of territory had been captured in October alone. Much of Ukraine’s losses have been in the eastern region of Donetsk, where defenses around the strategic hubs of Pokrovsk and Krahov have collapsed.
But Russia’s victory comes at a heavy price, British Defense Secretary Sir Tony Radakin said. Radakin estimated that Moscow’s forces suffered around 1,500 casualties “every day” in October, the worst casualties since the February 2022 invasion. Radakin puts the total number of casualties in Moscow at around 700,000.
Ukrainian officials told the FT on November 4 that Ukrainian forces fired on North Korean soldiers for the first time in Kursk. However, the North Korean military, the first foreign military to enter the war, has not yet participated in a large-scale ground attack.
Ukrainian officials believe North Korean troops, including some of their country’s top special forces, will play a dual role in the looming Russian operation. Some will be used to fight among infantry units, and the other will be used to hold and control reclaimed territory in Ukraine. Surgery.
“North Korean forces can provide tactical benefits to Russian forces in Kursk, but a lot depends on their numbers and how they are used,” Koffman said.
He said using them in Kursk would free up Russian forces “to continue offensive operations elsewhere in eastern Ukraine.”
North Korea previously supplied ballistic missiles and artillery shells to Russia. In return, Russia provided North Korea with military technology and “finance” to support its missile program, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
South Korea, the European Union and the United States, which have condemned the deployment of North Korean troops, have expressed concern that Russia could reward North Korea with nuclear and ballistic technology.
US President Joe Biden raised the issue of North Korea’s support for Russia with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday when the two leaders met in Lima on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden stressed that this was a “very dangerous development” not only for Europe but also for the security of the Korean peninsula.
He said deepening cooperation between Russia and North Korea would likely “increase the likelihood of provocative actions” by North Korea, which could lead to further missile tests or even a seventh nuclear test by Pyongyang. He said it could be included.
Additional reporting by Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
