Ukraine: "7000 North Korean Troops Deployed at Border... Armed with Mortars and Night Vision Goggles"

North Korean Soldiers Called Special Buryat People

It has been claimed that among the North Korean troops deployed to Russia, about 7,000 were stationed near the Ukraine border at the end of last month, armed with 60mm mortars, Phoenix anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), and night vision devices.

A video released by the Ukrainian Military Strategic Communication and Information Security Center (SPRAVDI) showing soldiers, presumed to be North Korean troops, lined up to receive Russian supplies.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media outlets, on the 2nd (local time), Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Unit (DIU) reported, "As of the last week of October, the invading country Russia has deployed more than 7,000 North Korean army soldiers from the Russian coastal region to areas near Ukraine."

Ukrainian authorities have been reporting daily on the movements of North Korean troops entering Russia and have been appealing for increased Western support to counter them. However, they have not provided specific evidence or circumstances.

In the announcement that day, the DIU also stated that the North Korean troops were deployed to the front lines via at least 28 military transport aircraft belonging to the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Russian military reportedly provided the North Korean soldiers involved in the Ukraine war with weapons such as 60mm mortars, AK-12 rifles, RPK/PKM machine guns, SVD/SVF sniper rifles, Phoenix ATGMs, and portable anti-tank grenade launchers (RPG-7), according to the DIU. Equipment such as night vision goggles, thermal imaging cameras, spectral scopes, and binoculars were also supplied, and the North Korean troops are said to be training at five training centers in Russia's Far East, the DIU mentioned.

The Russian military reportedly refers to the North Korean soldiers as "special Buryats," the DIU added. Buryats are Mongolic indigenous people living in the Russian autonomous republic north of Mongolia, and there have been theories that North Korean troops deployed to Russia possessed Buryat identification documents.

Meanwhile, the United States announced on the 31st of last month that about 8,000 North Korean troops are preparing to fight against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of Russia.