SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

North Korea offering 100,000 troops to help Russia win Ukrainian war: State media

Russian defence analyst Igor told Russian Channel One, that North Korea has reportedly offered 100,000 “volunteer” troops to help bolster Russia’s chances of invading of Ukraine.

“There are reports that 100,000 North Korean volunteers are prepared to come and take part in the conflict,” Korotchenko added.
Praising the North Korean military’s “wealth of experience with counter-battery warfare,” the expert said that Russia should wholeheartedly welcome the North Korean troops and their counter-battery expertise.

“If North Korea expresses a desire to meet its international duty to fight against Ukrainian fascism, we should let them,” Korotchenko was quoted as saying.
Korotchenko’s comments come days after reports emerged that several Russian states are providing so-called “volunteer” forces—a move deemed desperate by some Western intelligence analysts who have taken it as an indication that Vladimir Putin lacks the political capital to order a mass mobilisation within Russia.

Last month, UK’s MI6 chief Richard Moore said that Russia’s war effort was“about to run out of steam.”

“Our assessment is that the Russians will increasingly find it difficult to supply manpower [and] material over the next few weeks,” he was quoted as saying during a Q&A session at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

According to New York-based Council for Foreign Relations, North Korea’s military is the world’s fourth largest, with nearly 1.3 million active personnel. It has further 600,000 personnel as reserve soldiers.

According to the defence experts in CFP, North Korea operates with aging equipment and technology.

South Korean newspaper Daily NK reported that North Korea has also offered workers to assist Russia in rebuilding a post-war Ukraine.

The newspaper, citing Russian sources, reported that Kim Jong-un is planning on sending more than 1,000 workers to the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine if Russia wins the war.

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