The first wave of North Korean soldiers sent by russia to fight in Ukraine looks young and does not look like trained special forces. The Wall Street Journal writes about this, UNN reports.
Details
The publication writes that the North Korean troops approaching the russian-Ukrainian front line may not be the best personnel in Kim Jong Un's army.
Judging by the video footage and intelligence reports, they appear to be young - teenagers or in their 20s - and likely in the early stages of military conscription. The soldiers appear to be relatively short in stature and weakly built, reflecting widespread malnutrition in poor North Korea, military analysts tell the newspaper.
The publication also notes that the North Korean military's special training is focused on sabotage and destruction of infrastructure in the mountainous terrain of South Korea, rather than on positional battles on the plains of Ukraine. Most likely, these soldiers have never left North Korea before, and their army uses outdated weapons.
Recall
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the first use of the DPRK military in combat with Ukrainian units is expected on October 27-28. Zelensky called on world leaders to respond to the escalation by russia and the DPRK in a principled manner.
It is expectedthat 5,000 North Korean soldiers from an elite unit will arrive in the Kursk region of russia early this week. It is not yet known what role they will play in the hostilities against Ukraine.