Kim Jong Un troops sent to Russia quickly desert Ukraine frontline: report

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North Korean troops deployed in Russia along the border with Ukraine have reportedly deserted the frontline.

Following a defense pact between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, it was announced that North Korean forces would join Russians on the ground in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian outlet LIGA reported that Russia was planning to assemble a battalion of North Korean troops in its ongoing battle.

But according to Suspilne, the public broadcasting company of Ukraine, an estimated 18 North Korean soldiers who were positioned in Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk oblasts near the Ukrainian border, have deserted. Suspilne’s report cited unnamed intelligence officials.

“The motive behind their desertion has not yet been established, but the sources said that the Russian military is searching for the soldiers,” The Kyiv Independent reported. “Russian commanders are attempting to conceal the soldiers’ desertion from their higher-ups, the sources said.”

Putin visited North Korea in June, the first time in 24 years. The leaders of the two nations signed a so-called “comprehensive strategic partnership pact” at the time agreeing that if either country were to “get into a state of war due to an armed aggression” the other “shall immediately provide military and other assistance with all the means at its disposal.”

North Korean soldiers were reportedly going to be part of a “special Buryat battalion” and involved in combat missions, LIGA reported.

“As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely,” South Korea’s Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said last week.

According to Newsweek:

Last year, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyiv’s military intelligence arm, reported the arrival of some North Korean servicepeople, including engineering personnel, to the Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk.

Meanwhile, the Center of National Resistance—created by the Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian military—reported in September 2023 that Russian President Vladimir Putin persuaded North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un to send North Korean citizens to the Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk for construction work.

“Concerns over the deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have escalated dramatically this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 13 that Russia’s plans for supporting its full-scale invasion of Ukraine would this autumn include ‘the actual involvement of North Korea in the war,’” The Kyiv Independent reported.

“This is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces,” he said.

Intelligence sources were cited in reports saying six North Korean officers were killed near the Donetsk region in Ukraine on October 3. The Russian Telegram channel Kremlin Snuffbox reported that three other officers sustained injuries in that strike and were sent to Moscow for treatment.

A “Western diplomat familiar with the matter” was cited by The Kyiv Independent in reporting that North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia.

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.