Are North Korean soldiers fighting in Ukraine for Russia?

 

Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin. The Guardian/AFP/KNS.

Ukraine and South Korea claim that North Korean troops are actively fighting in the Ukraine conflict for Russia. The Guardian. They claim there are dozens of North Korean troops operating North Korean KN-23 missiles. Supposedly North Korean engineers were killed in a strike behind enemy lines. Foreign fighters are common on both sides of the conflict but if North Korea were sending troops to participate in the fighting it would be first time a country has done so. North Korea has provided a large number of weapons to Russia and would stand to gain from sending troops as they could gain experience and evaluate the effectiveness of weapons. The KN-23 missiles are short range ballistic missiles developed by North Korea and have proven effective in strikes against Ukraine. 

Russia, for its part, says the reports of North Koreans fighting in Ukraine are "fake news". 

My Comment:

It's hilarious to see the hand wringing over this story. The elephant in the room is that NATO troops have been unofficially participating in the war for years. Many of the more advanced weapons we have given Ukraine, like our Patriot missile batteries and various long range missiles, are being manned by "volunteers" (ie active duty troops put on leave and fighting as mercenaries) from various NATO countries. To whine about Russia doing the same thing is a joke. 

But is it even true? It's possible. The KN-23 is a North Korean developed weapon and it's very possible that Russia cannot operate these weapons themselves. Just like NATO weapons it might require specialists trained in the operation of these weapons. Indeed, it's probably more likely than not, it's literally rocket science. 

There are other reasons as well. The KH-23 had never been used in combat before it showed up in Ukraine and I am guessing they needed to evaluate the effectiveness. These weapons do appear to be effective and I think the North Koreans are pleased. It's win-win for both parties as well, as Russia obviously gets some much needed fire support. These weapons are extremely powerful and can do a lot of damage to Ukranian positions. I do wonder how accurate these weapons are, but that's what the North Koreans want to find out. 

It's possible that the story is fake news. Russia certainly has a lot of experience with ballistic missiles and perhaps the weapon is easier to operate than we think. Given the support Russia has given North Korea it's even possible they helped a bit with development. And it's also possible that the North Korean troops were only there for a very short time for training Russians and evaluating the missiles. I think that this possibility is probably less likely than North Koreans actually being in the country. Though if they are there I have zero idea if some of those troops were killed, it's obviously very possible but I don't trust either side to tell the truth. 

I actually think that North Korea would probably gain from sending some actual ground troops to Ukraine as well. North Korea hasn't been involved in a war in a very long time and it would do them well to form a cadre of troops that have at least some experience in combat. And the fighting they could see in Ukraine would be similar to what they could see in a major conflict with South Korea (and possibly the United States). 

Regardless, the real story continues to be the steady rate of advance that Russia is seeing in Ukraine now. These North Korean missiles are a small part of this, but the real problem for Ukraine is that Russia's attritional warfare is working. Ukraine just doesn't have the soldiers left to continue the fight and keep losing a ton of troops. They are running out of weapons and troops and probably time as well...