News of the desertion comes amid fears that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is working with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to build a 3,000-strong unit of North Korean soldiers in Russia’s east
A group of North Korean soldiers drafted to join Russia in their war against Ukraine have deserted the frontline, with Kremlin fighters now said to be tracking them down.
The desertion comes amid reports that Russia’s army is forming a unit of 3,000 North Korean soldiers as concerns grow that Pyongyang is forming a close military alliance with the Kremlin. The troops are said to have been deployed in Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk oblasts, just four miles from the border with Ukraine, when they deserted.
According to intelligence officials, the Russian military is now searching for the North Korean soldiers as commanders attempt to conceal the desertion from their superiors. Despite rumours of the 3,000-strong unit being formed in Russia’s Far East, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed reports that North Korea is being brought into the Russian offensive.
“This is not only British intelligence, it is also American intelligence,” he said. “They report it all the time, they don’t provide any evidence.”
But it’s clear that Moscow and Pyongyang have deepened their relationship in recent months, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sending Vladimir Putin a birthday message just last week, calling the despot his “closest comrade”. North Korea has also supplied Russia with ammunition for their war, with a huge stash of ammunition from the closed-off country having been hit by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone strike.
The stash was hit in Russia just 70 miles from the border with Ukraine as Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces carried out a major drone strike. Guided aerial bombs as well as munitions supplied by Kim Jong Un were said to have been in Putin’s secret storage facility in Karachev, Bryanks region. Russia claimed it shot down two dozen drones targeting the area.
Zelensky has spoken of North Korea joining the war, with South Korea’s defence minister adding that a North Korean deployment in Ukraine was “highly likely”. But the number of those being drafted to fight with Russia remains unclear.
A military source in Russia’s Far East told BBC Russian that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” and were stationed in a military base near Ussuriysk, north of Vladivostok. However, the source refused to give a precise number, except that there were “absolutely nowhere near 3,000”.
As the war grinds through its third year, morale is low in Ukraine as troops face challenges holding back Russian advances, especially in the east. Moscow is making incremental gains, however, the steady forward movement has Kyiv feeling it requires more large-scale Western help.
But there are signs that support may be hurt by the increasing conflicts in the Middle East. Zelensky told lawmakers on Wednesday that Ukraine’s Western partners are increasing pressure to negotiate with Russia, but hinted such talks would be unfavourable to Kyiv as he unveiled what he called his “victory plan”.
Major points of the plan include an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use Western-supplied longer-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory – steps that Kyiv’s allies have met with reluctance so far. Speaking to Verkhovna Rada, the parliament, Zelensky said:” If we start moving according to this victory plan now, it may be possible to end the war no later than next year.”
Zelensky was expected to present his five-point plan to the European Council on Thursday. He also said that in private communications with Ukraine, partners were increasingly mentioning “negotiations” and much less frequently using the word “justice.” But he held firm that Ukraine is not prepared for a “frozen conflict” or any “trade-offs involving territory or sovereignty”, which drew sustained applause from the lawmakers.
