“Pyongyang is expected to send 150 more KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles to Moscow in 2025, Budanov said, adding that 148 were sent last year.”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“We don’t expect to see many new ground forces,” Budanov said in an interview with The War Zone. He did not specify the number and when these forces would arrive.
According to Budanov, North Korea has delivered almost 120 170mm M1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery systems and 120 240mm M-1991 multiple rocket launchers to Russia in the past three months, and is likely to deliver as many more in the future. “They have a lot of such systems,” said the head of GUR.
In addition to the artillery, Pyongyang is expected to send another 150 KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles to Moscow in 2025, Budanov said, adding that 148 were sent last year.
The day before, The New York Times, citing a senior official of the US Defense Ministry, wrote that in the next two months, the DPRK will send reinforcements to the North Korean military, which is already fighting against Ukraine on the side of Russia.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), analyzing this information, noted that North Korea is likely to deploy a new military contingent in Russia by mid-March 2025, but these new forces are unlikely to significantly improve Russian operations “and will likely face with the same high losses and complications when interacting with Russian troops as the current North Korean contingent.”
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It became known about the arrival of the first North Korean troops in Kurshchyna last fall.
According to the USA, South Korea and Ukraine, 10,000 to 12,000 North Korean soldiers arrived in Russia in October. They were involved in the war on the side of Russia, units of the DPRK are used in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.
Moscow and Pyongyang did not confirm the direct participation of the North Korean military in the fighting.
On January 11, Ukraine reported the capture by the Defense Forces of two soldiers from North Korea in Kurshchyna.
The capture by the Ukrainian military of two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation was also confirmed by the intelligence agency of South Korea. The intelligence of the Republic of Korea quoted one of the captured North Korean soldiers as saying that “among the North Korean soldiers in Russia, there were ‘significant’ losses.” They also noted that one of the captives remained without food and water for four to five days before he was captured by Ukrainian forces.