Military fiasco for Kim Jon-un and geopolitical setback for Vladimir Putin. What for the Kremlin was going to be a brief conflict with neighboring Ukraine will, in just a month, be three years of war with hardly any progress or victories.
Next February 24th they will be fulfilled three years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin initially camouflaged as military maneuvers carried out near the border between the two countries. Since then, Putin has not obtained major victories in this military operation, he only has the occupations of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia Oblasts, in addition to the – unrecognized – annexation of the Crimean peninsula, in 2014, or so. which is now known as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
And apart from some regions already closer to the Russian Federation, the Kremlin has come to lose territory that he had initially captured. The northern border, where there is less distance between the Ukrainian capital and Putin’s lines, witnessed a counteroffensive by kyiv with more than satisfactory results for Ukraine.
North Korean aid
He impasse in which Russian forces were at war against Ukraine, led to the deployment of North Korean Army soldiersan ally of Russia and one of the few countries with which it maintains relations, in addition to China.
Ukraine warned, back in October, of the presence of troops from the Kim Jon-un regime, something that days later was corroborated by the United States of America (USA) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). . And there is a agreement between these two countries for mutual military support, something that the North Korean leader himself has expressed that he wants to strengthen: the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Russia and North Korea. This was signed on June 19 during the visit of the Russian president to the North Korean capital, and has recently been ratified by 397 Duma deputiesthe Russian Lower House. In said treaty, article 4 provides for immediate military assistance in the event of armed aggression by third countries. But this article has not yet been invoked by Putin since the war with Ukraine began, although Ukrainian soldiers have confirmed the presence of North Korean soldiers even up to a thousand dead and injured.
Significant casualties
North Korean forces fighting alongside the Russian army in the Russian Kursk region they continue to face significant casualtiesat the same time that the morale of the soldiers of the Asian country continues to deteriorate, as reported this Thursday by the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
“To replace losses and strengthen positions, Russian commanders are transferring new troops from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Army (DPRK) to the front line. On December 31 and January 1, groups of North Korean soldiers were moved to positions near the villages of Ulanok, Fanaseyevka, Cherkaskaya Konopleka, in the Kursk region,” details the statement published on Telegram.
The report states that “lower commanders (platoon/squadron/company) they lie in his reports to higher command on the actual level of casualties among DPRK army personnel.
In turn, “North Korean soldiers’ morale has fallen”notes the GUR, who adds that “they are constantly ‘treated’ with propaganda from the Russian army about ‘the great importance’ of the DPRK army’s participation in the war against Ukraine.”
Strengthen military cooperation
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a New Year’s letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In it, he promised the solidification – even more so – of bilateral military cooperation, as reported on New Year’s Eve by North Korean state media. “The New Year 2025 will be recorded as the first year of war victory in the 21st century, when the Russian army and people defeat neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory,” Kim Jon-un stated in the letter sent to his Russian counterpart, as published this Tuesday by the North Korean state agency KCNA.
According to the aforementioned source, the letter conveys on behalf of the North Korean dictator the “warm greetings and best wishes to the brother Russian people and to all the service personnel of the brave Russian Army.” The North Korean leader also expressed his willingness to strengthen strategic partnership between both countries, and build strong nations in order to achieve “peace and prosperity of the people.”
Last November, North Korea and Russia ratified their strategic partnership treatywhich includes a defense clause and states that if one of the signatory parties is subject to an armed attack, the other will immediately provide military and other assistance.
According to Ukraine and some of its allies, North Korea has already deployed some 11,000 soldiers. Some of them have already joined the Russian troops fighting the Ukrainian Army in the Russian region of Kursk, bordering Ukraine and partially occupied by kyiv forces since August. In a recent report by the Russian TASS agency, Putin mentioned the possibility of both countries holding joint military exercises, which would represent a deepening their military cooperation.
Without any protection, only with courage
Sin no type of protection North Korean soldiers are sent by the Russian high command, straight to death on the fast track; as the cameras of several drones have captured North Korean fighters. The Kremlin uses its ally’s forces as cannon fodder on the front line in their war against Ukraine, in the second line – more protected – the Russian forces.
kyiv’s military intelligence services (GUR) assure that its enemy sends North Korean soldiers mass to attack the Ukrainian front, with a combination of marine infantry and airborne assault. At least one group of soldiers from North Korea have been attacked with Ukrainian kamikaze dronesso they are part of the 200 men who have been injured or killed in this war zone that Russia is trying to recover.
Source: www.vozpopuli.com
