A Blog by Jonathan Low

 

Jan 15, 2025

Frightened, Confused North Koreans Have Lost One-Third Of Kursk Force

As North Korean casualties have risen exponentially, friendly fire incidents and abuses of Russian civilians have increased. 

Ukrainian targeting of command centers have significantly increased confusion in the hierarchical Russian and North Korean militaries. The omnipresent language barrier has added to the breakdown of coordination. As a result, Russian attempts to retake Kursk - originally ordered by the Kremlin for this week - have faltered. JL

Euromaidan Press reports:

North Korean losses in manpower have skyrocketed to over 4,000 soldiers in just under a month, causing even the most well-disciplined North Koreans to start losing hope. Out of desperation to save their lives, the North Koreans used Russian civilians in Maknovka as human shields. A direct strike on a Russian command post forced a halt of combat operations as the collapse of a cohesive command structure caused confusion between North Koreans and Russians. North Koreans opened fire on Russians in a friendly fire incident. To make it worse, the language barrier prevented the Russians and North Koreans from halting the incident

Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Kursk direction in Russia. 

North Korean losses in manpower have skyrocketed to over 4,000 soldiers in just under a month, causing even the most well-disciplined North Koreans to start losing hope and lay down their arms. Out of desperation to find better cover and save their lives, the North Korean soldiers use Russian civilians in Maknovka as human shields. Footage recorded by a Ukrainian drone shows how a North Korean soldier kicked out two elderly women from a house to use them as human shields to prevent a drone strike.
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Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video

Here, a Ukrainian precision strike on a critical Russian command post unleashed chaos within the enemy ranks, leaving Russian forces leaderless and disoriented. Amid the turmoil, with no command and coordination structure, North Koreans attacked Russian forces, causing them to retreat from their positions, and opening the gates for the Ukrainian tank assaults.

The goal of the Ukrainian precision strikes is the elimination of Russian commanders and force concentrations. As the Russians attempt to undermine the Ukrainian offensive northeast of Sudzha by assaulting it in the flanks, taking out the Russian command structure would completely collapse the Russian effort, causing chaos and disorganization to break out amongst the Russian ranks.

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Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video

Ukrainian preparation: intelligence gathering

However, to conduct the strikes, Ukrainians first had to collect intelligence about the location of Russian command posts and force accumulations. Over the months, Ukrainians extracted information from unsecured Russian radio communications by simply switching to their frequencies.

All of this, combined with intel provided by Ukrainian Military Intelligence agents and informants within Russia, together with information from Russian prisoners of war, gave them a clear picture of the location of Russian command posts and force accumulations.

Command post elimination: HIMARS strike on 810th Naval Infantry

Subsequently, the Ukrainian forces conducted a HIMARS strike that successfully struck a command post of the Russian 810th Naval Infantry Brigade in the town of Belaya to the southeast of Sudzha.

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Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video

The exact death toll of Russian soldiers and officers is unknown as of yet. Still, as all Russian assaults south of Sudzha were coordinated from this command post in Sudzha, Ukrainians will have effectively disrupted the Russian command structure with this strike.

As the Russian command structure is incredibly centralized, junior officers have little to take the initiative into their own hands. This meant that a direct strike on a Russian command post forced the temporary halt of all combat operations, and disruptions till new officers were able to take their place. This allowed Ukrainian forces to retake the initiative and launch an attack to eliminate the Russian holdouts in the southern part of Makhnovka once and for all.

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Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video

Ukrainian counteroffensive: Makhnovka clearing operation

Ukrainians initiated the assault with intense artillery fire and FPV drone strikes against Russian positions, forcing most Russian soldiers to run for shelter. Ukrainians also deployed sappers to the village, who removed barbed wire and anti-tank mines from streets in Makhnovka to clear the way for armored assault columns.

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Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video

This allowed Ukrainian tanks to enter the narrow streets, being escorted by foot soldiers for cover, as it provided direct fire on Russian positions. The remaining Russian forces in basements that could not be eliminated directly were then subsequently finished off by FPV drone strikes.

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Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video

Allied force confusion: North Korean-Russian friendly fire incident

Losses of positions within Makhnovka and the loss of Russian momentum were not the only consequences of the Ukrainian precision strike on the Russian command post in Belaya. As you know, North Korean soldiers were previously integrated into Russian units in this area. However, the collapse of a cohesive command structure caused confusion between North Koreans and Russians, further exacerbated by their language barrier.

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Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video

A Russian soldier published a video where he explained how, in the confusion, North Korean soldiers opened fire on Russians in the friendly fire incident, believing them to be Ukrainians. To make it worse, the language barrier prevented the Russians and North Koreans from halting the incident, which forced them to engage in a brutal firefight with each other. In the end, the Russian soldier reported that he was pulling back and withdrawing with the main force after the incident, since it became impossible to conduct further combat operations under their current circumstances.

Implications

Overall, the Ukrainians inflicted a heavy blow on the Russian command structure with a precise HIMARS strike on their command post in the deep rear, causing a complete collapse of Russian command and disorganization amongst their troops, which allowed the Ukrainians to retake the initiative and attack. 

Russians use their North Korean allies as human shields, valuing them even less than a regular soldier in the Russian army.
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Screenshot from Reporting from Ukraine video

By continuing precision strikes on command posts and force accumulations, the Ukrainians could effectively spread disorganization among Russian and North Korean forces to a point where Russian forces became unable to conduct proper combat operations.

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