Pyongyang to send more ammunition, troops to Russia in 2025
- 23 January, 15:04
North Korea will send more reinforcement in the form of weapons and troops to help Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine in 2025, Ukrainian intelligence chief said on Thursday.
According to a statement by the chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence, known as HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, Pyongyang plans to supply Russia with at least 150 KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, as well as artillery shells and systems in 2025. In an interview with War Zone media outlet, Budanov also said that North Koreans will train Russian troops on the use of all of these systems. The intelligence chief claimed that Pyongyang is also planning to send reinforcements in the form of infantry to Russia’s border Kursk region.
Over the past three months, North Korea has supplied Moscow with around 120 M1989 “Koksan” self-propelled artillery systems with a 170mm caliber and 120 M-1991 multiple rocket launchers with a 240mm calibre. North Korea is expected to send at least the same amount of this equipment to the Russians, Budanov said.
North Korea deployed 11,000-strong military contingent in Russia’s border Kursk region last month to help Russia reclaim lands captured following Ukraine’s large-scale incursion into the region in early August. Ukraine’s Western allies have described the deployment of North Korean troops as escalation of the war. Russia has neither denied nor confirmed that North Korean soldiers are fighting alongside the Russian army against Ukraine in Kursk. Western officials told BBC on Wednesday that North Korean troops have suffered nearly 40 % casualties in the battles in Kursk already, with the number of killed Pyongyang servicemen exceeding 1,000.
