Kremlin Hides North Koreans To Avoid Admitting Help Needed To Retake Kursk

The Kremlin is refusing to admit there are North Koreans fighting for Russia in Kursk oblast because they are embarrassed to acknowledge that they do not have enough Russian soldiers to retake Russian territory. 

Revealing the presence of North Koreans would also invalidate Putin's increasingly empty claims that Russia is able to recruit all the troops it needs. JL

The Institute for the Study of War reports:

Russian officials and state media are not acknowledging the presence of North Korean forces in Russia or their participation in combat in Kursk Oblast. The Russian military is attempting to conceal North Korean personnel losses, burning the faces of killed North Korean soldiers to conceal their presence in Russia. The Russian military forbids North Korean personnel from showing their faces while training in Russia. Ukrainian intelligence have noted the Russian military attempted to disguise North Korean soldiers as Russians from the Republic of Buryatia. The Kremlin will continue to avoid reporting on the deployment of North Korean forces in Kursk Oblast as doing so would tacitly acknowledge that Russia needs foreign troops to recapture its own territory and invalidate Russian President Putin's claims that the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast resulted in high Russian recruitment rates.

US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby confirmed on December 16 that North Korean forces are engaged in combat operations and suffering losses in Kursk Oblast as Russian official sources continue to avoid reporting on or confirming the deployment of North Korean forces to combat in Russia.[15] 

 

Kirby stated that the US has observed North Korean soldiers moving from the "second lines" of the battlefield in Kursk Oblast to the frontline over the past several days. Pentagon Spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder stated on December 16 that North Korean military personnel have been killed and wounded in combat operations in Kursk Oblast but did not specify how many casualties North Korean personnel have suffered.[16] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on December 16 that the Russian military is attempting to conceal North Korean personnel losses and is burning the faces of killed North Korean soldiers to conceal their presence in Russia.[17] Zelensky added that the Russian military forbids North Korean personnel from showing their faces while training in Russia and attempted to remove any video evidence of North Korean soldiers operating in Russia. Ukrainian military officials and intelligence sources have previously noted that the Russian military attempted to disguise North Korean soldiers as Russian forces from the Republic of Buryatia.[18] 

 

ISW has not observed Russian officials and state media acknowledging the presence of North Korean forces in Russia or their participation in combat operations in Kursk Oblast. The Kremlin will likely continue to avoid reporting on the deployment of North Korean forces in Kursk Oblast as doing so would tacitly acknowledge that Russia needs foreign troops to recapture its own territory and invalidate Russian President Vladimir Putin's claims that the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast resulted in high Russian recruitment rates.[19]