North Korea emerged as Russia’s main ally in the attack on Ukraine. international

Vladimir Putin’s request for military assistance to Kim Jong-un in September 2023 was interpreted as a sign of Russian weakness. A year and a half after the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s leader met with the North Korean dictator at a cosmodrome in the Russian Far East to exchange favors. What seemed like a desperate move to resort to in one of the poorest and most isolated countries on the planet also had its logic: the vast Soviet-era North Korean arsenal could feed the Russian military machine. A year has passed since the first shipment of North Korean ammunition was reported by Western intelligence services and the Pyongyang regime as essential for the Kremlin’s war. Additionally, the two sides have sealed an alliance that will include Russian aid to its North Korean friends if they feel threatened.

Kim’s contribution to the “holy war against the West”, as the North Korean leader defined the invasion of Ukraine, is decisive primarily due to the 122-millimeter ammunition he has supplied for Russian howitzers. many times Based on intelligence sources from NATO members, it was reported on 4 October that half of the shells fired from Russian guns were of North Korean origin. The British newspaper said Pyongyang had supplied three million projectiles, adding that South Korea estimated that its northern enemy had transferred five million projectiles to Moscow.

The Ukrainian government says this ammunition, stored for decades, is of poor quality and in many cases fails. Several Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian weapons depots between September and October have also destroyed the occupier’s artillery forces. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Havrilyuk said on 1 October that if at the beginning of the year Russian artillery superiority was eight to one, today it would be only three to one. The Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denis Shmyhal, assured the same day that Ukrainian production of ammunition has tripled and now represents half of that used by the armed forces.

But steady Russian advances in Donetsk province since last spring bear the North Korean seal of approval, as both the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and brigade commanders at the front have stressed: Without Pyongyang’s projectiles, the Russian offensive would be less intense.

North Korean soldiers at the front?

According to Kiev, North Korean cooperation with Russia has now entered a new phase. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Kim was now sending not only weapons but also troops to Moscow. “We have seen a growing alliance between Russia and regimes like North Korea. It’s not just weapons, now it transfers personnel to the occupation forces,” the Ukrainian president said. “It is clear that in these circumstances there is a need to advance relations with our partners,” he said. Zelensky, without specifying, mentioned going beyond the supply of long-range missiles and other weapons, which he continues to demand.

The Ukrainian president insisted on Monday that his army’s General Staff had provided him with reports on Moscow’s willingness to involve Pyongyang in its military operations in Ukraine during the autumn and winter.

Several thousand North Korean soldiers, Ukrainian military sources revealed on October 11 Washington PostTraining for combat operations can already be done in Russia. Kiev believes the aim is to incorporate these reinforcements into the Russian army by the end of the year. military personnelA Ukrainian media outlet specializing in military analysis believes Pyongyang’s troops will take over border control functions to free up Russian troops who can serve on the war front.

Kiev believes that North Koreans have already died in the war. Ukrainian media received definitive information from its intelligence services about the October 3 bombing of a military base in the city of Donetsk illegally occupied by Russia, in which, according to that version, six North Korean officers were also killed. National Security Council member Andrey Kovalenko has stressed that North Korean engineers are investigating the state of ammunition in the occupied territory and the use of their Hwasong-11 tactical ballistic missiles.

The Ukrainian partisan group SROK, which operates in Russian-controlled areas, said on October 14 that they had discovered three artillery training camps with the presence of Korean officers around Mariupol. Ukrainian media specializing in military information Defense Express He assured on 9 October that he had discovered the invaders’ use of D-74 howitzers, a Soviet cannon from the 1950s that was no longer operational in Russia and could only have come from North Korean arsenals.

The Kremlin and Pyongyang have denied all this information, but the truth is that the remains of Hwasong-11 were identified in a strike against Kiev last August.

Alliance for war in Europe and Asia

Military cooperation between the two regimes has reached a new dimension with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which Putin and Kim agreed to during their meeting in Pyongyang on June 19. The Russian President introduced this Monday in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, a bill to approve an alliance that, on paper, is only defensive in nature, but that would facilitate the North Korean nuclear race.

“If a Party is the subject of armed attack by one or more States and is therefore in a state of war, the other Party shall immediately render military and other assistance at its disposal and in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations – the inherent right of self-defense – “, includes the text of the agreement presented on the Kremlin website.

According to the South Korean Yonhap agency, the content of this provision of the treaty – which copies verbatim the articles of the 1961 treaty between the USSR and North Korea – is unclear. Well-known Russian pro-war correspondent Alexander Sladkov, on his Telegram channel, which has nearly a million followers, wondered whether the arrival of Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk in August would be a precedent for implementing that article’s activism. Can be considered. And, therefore, North Korea’s participation in the war in defense of its ally.

Furthermore, the agreement includes the occupied territories as provinces that are already part of Russia and, therefore, must also be defended by the North Korean ally. However, although the annexation of these territories has been recognized by Pyongyang, this is not the case with its great patron China, which has never legitimized any Russian conquests, including Crimea in 2014.

In 2023, Putin made a plan “for a new era” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The alliance between the Kremlin and Pyongyang strengthens their bloc compared to the alliance formed in Asia by the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, the AUKUS military forum and its allies Japan and South Korea.

The Kremlin came to the defense of its new ally this Tuesday. Moscow has warned Seoul that its new treaty could involve Russia in a hypothetical conflict if it takes action, after Pyongyang blew up roads linking its country to the south of the peninsula.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zazarova warned, “South Korean authorities should take Pyongyang’s warnings very seriously and stop worsening the situation on the peninsula with their reckless provocation campaign, which escalates tensions with armed incidents.” Used to be.” His Telegram channel.

According to Pyongyang, South Korea used drones to drop propaganda leaflets on its territory. Moscow has categorized this alleged action as interference in the internal affairs of North Korea. “Seoul must understand that seizing power by imposition is being promoted pseudoliberal values and extension of fixed Freedom poses a security threat, especially to its own citizens, Jazarova said on her Telegram channel.