“According to analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), official Russia avoids recognizing the presence of North Korean troops in the Kursk region, as it would de facto mean that the Kremlin cannot win back its own territory without the involvement of foreign troops.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: ISW
Details: An analyst report recalls that US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed on December 16 that North Korean troops are engaged in combat operations and are suffering casualties in the Kursk region, as official Russian sources continue to avoid reporting or confirming the deployment of North Korean troops to participate in combat operations in Russia
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Kirby said the US had watched North Korean soldiers move from the “second line” of the battlefield in the Kursk region to the front line over the past few days.
The representative of the Pentagon, Major General Patrick Ryder, said on December 16 that North Korean servicemen were killed and wounded during the fighting in the Kursk region, but did not specify exactly what losses the North Korean servicemen suffered.
At the same time, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, said that the Russian military is trying to hide the losses among North Korean personnel and is burning the faces of dead North Korean soldiers to hide their presence in Russia.
Zelensky later added that the Russian military forbids North Korean servicemen from showing their faces during exercises in Russia and tries to remove any video evidence of North Korean soldiers operating on Russian territory.
In addition, Ukrainian military and intelligence sources previously noted that the Russian invaders tried to disguise North Korean soldiers as Buryatia soldiers.
Analysts note that ISW has not observed Russian officials and state media acknowledging the presence of North Korean troops in Russia or their involvement in hostilities in the Kursk region.
Literally ISW: “The Kremlin will probably continue to avoid reports of the deployment of North Korean troops in the Kursk region, as this (recognition of the presence of North Korean troops in the Kursk region – ed.) would mean a tacit recognition that Russia needs foreign troops to win back its own territory, and would make the ruler’s statements far-fetched of Vladimir Putin’s Russia that the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region led to a high level of recruitment of Russians into the army.”
ISW key findings for December 17:
- On December 17, the SBU liquidated in Moscow the head of the Russian nuclear, biological and chemical defense forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, and his assistant, Major Ilya Polikarpov.
- The Kremlin and Russian propagandists have mostly tried to present the elimination of Kirillov as an unprovoked act of terrorism, and not as a consequence of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Kirillov’s responsibility for Russian chemical attacks and information operations against Ukraine.
- Russia’s ultra-nationalist media has overwhelmingly called on the Kremlin to retaliate against Ukraine by targeting its military-political leadership, and indirectly criticized the Kremlin’s decision not to recognize the war in Ukraine as a full-scale war that also affects the Russian rear.
- US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed on December 16 that North Korean troops are engaged in combat operations and are suffering casualties in the Kursk region, as Russian official sources continue to avoid or confirm reports of North Korean military deployments to combat operations on Russian soil.
- Neither the Kremlin nor the Syrian interim government appears to be confident about the future of Russian bases in Syria, which likely explains the ongoing visible Russian preparations at the Khmeimim airbase and the port of Tartus for troop withdrawal, despite statements and reports that the interim Syrian the government may expand Russia’s basing rights.
- Russian troops advanced near Kupyansk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, Vugledar, Velika Novosilka and in the Kursk region.
- The Kremlin is expanding its “Heroes’ Time” program, which aims to appoint Kremlin-selected veterans to civil service positions, tasking Russia’s regional governments with creating more local counterparts.