Intelligence sources say a battalion of 3,000 has been secretly training to fight against Ukraine

A battalion of 3,000 North Korean soldiers will shortly join Russian troops in fighting Ukraine, marking Pyongyang’s full entry into the war.

Intelligence sources said the unit has been secretly training in Russia’s Far East ahead of deployment as part of a Russian airborne regiment.

“They are called the Buryat Battalion,” a senior Ukrainian military source told Politico. Buryatia is a remote region of Russia bordering Mongolia that the Kremlin has targeted heavily for military recruitment.

The Kyiv Independent quoted another Western intelligence source claiming that North Korea had sent 10,000 soldiers to join the Russian army.

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    • sqibkw@lemmy.worldEnglish
      322·
      9 hours ago

      Unfortunately many North Koreans already leave the country to work as slaves for construction companies, factories, etc (including in Europe). Generally they only allow people out who have families back home to be tortured/killed in case they defect.

      They will probably get some, but less than you might expect.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
        122·
        6 hours ago

        There’s a pretty big difference between construction work and human wave tactics in a warzone. Different levels of motivation to defect.

        • ammonium@lemmy.worldEnglish
          14·
          6 hours ago

          And different opportunities, going MIA on a construction site is suspicious, but during war? Who can tell whether they defected or died?