Ukraine-Russia live: Thousands of North Koreans in Putin’s ‘meat grinder’ war legitimate target, says Blinken

The thousands of young soldiers North Korea has sent to Russia, reportedly to help fight against Ukraine, are mostly elite special forces, but that hasn’t stopped speculation they’ll be slaughtered because they have no combat experience, no familiarity with the terrain and will likely be dropped onto the most ferocious battlefields.

That may be true, and soon. Observers say the troops are already arriving at the front. From the North Korean perspective, however, these soldiers might not be as miserable as outsiders think. They may, in fact, view their Russian tour with pride and as a rare chance to make good money, see a foreign country for the first time, and win preferred treatment for their families back home, according to former North Korean soldiers.

“They are too young and won’t understand exactly what it means. They’ll just consider it an honor to be selected as the ones to go to Russia among the many North Korean soldiers,” said Lee Woong-gil, a former member of the same special forces unit, the Storm Corps. He came to South Korea in 2007. “But I think most of them won’t likely come back home alive.”

Hyung-Jin Kim reports:

North Korea sent about 10,000 troops to Russia who could join Moscow‘s fight in Ukraine in the “next several weeks”, the Pentagon said amid rising concerns over Pyongyong’s involvement in Vladimir Putin’s war.

The soldiers were believed to be heading for the border region of Kursk, where Moscow recently suffered defeats and has been struggling to push back Ukrainian troops, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Sigh said on Monday.

On Tuesday, South Korean lawmakers, briefed by the country’s spy agency, said some high-ranking North Korean military officials and troops deployed to Russia might move to the frontline.

Ukrainian forces have pushed into Toretsk recently, a US war think tank has said.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have advanced near Kupyansk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and southwest of Donetsk City, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Wednesday.

A large explosion was reported in the port area of Russian-occupied Berdyansk.

Petro Andriushchenko, Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol, said on Telegram: “Our drones have been attacking Berdyansk since six in the morning.

“The main one hits in the port area. Smoke from a large fire is visible above the port with a large number of ambulances and firemen.

“In addition, the local occupation administration, almost for the first time, acknowledged the hit, reporting an attack on the premises of the administration itself in the city

“In addition, the electricity supply has disappeared in some areas, and the work of official budget bodies has been canceled.

“Finally, good morning from the occupation.”

Viktor Dudukalov, deputy chairman of the Berdiansk District Council, told Espreso TV that at least six hits were counted in the city.

“Since 6am today, we [in Berdiansk] have been facing a very tense situation with Russian air defense. At least six hits have been counted, primarily in the port area.

“There is smoke, ambulances are on the scene, and certain streets in the city center leading to the port are blocked.

“The occupiers claim that everything is fine and under control, yet they have decided to take today off and are urging everyone to stay at home, despite ‘everything being under control’.”

The Ukrainian government has named three North Korean generals it says are accompanying the thousands of Korean People’s Army troops deployed to Russia in aid of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Ukraine named Colonel General Kim Yong Bok, a senior general with command of special forces troops, including the XI Corps, also known as the Storm Corps, which the South Korean intelligence service said has been dispatched to Russia.

Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert with the U.S.-based Stimson Center, said Kim’s role appears to be larger, running the KPA Light Infantry Training Guidance Bureau that includes the XI Corps as well as light infantry units deployed to KPA corps units and seconded to special missions for the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea’s main spy agency.

“This is a large and almost unprecedented deployment for the KPA,” said Madden, who believes the general is in Russia as a representative of Kim Jong Un.

“As such, there are a number of administrative and liaison tasks so Kim Jong Un has sent in Kim Yong Bok as a proxy decision-maker until the KPA unit presence is fully stood up.”

Kim Yong Bok may eventually defer command to a subordinate KPA officer of a senior colonel or major general rank, Madden added.

Other top officers identified by Ukraine include Colonel General Ri Chang Ho, Deputy Chief of the General Staff and head of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, and Major General Sin Kum Cheol, head of the Main Operational Directorate.

As head of North Korea’s main intelligence service since about 2022, Ri has been sanctioned by South Korea, which alleged that he oversaw major cyber hacking efforts to steal technology and foreign currency.

Like Kim Yong Bok, Ri also accompanied leader Kim Jong Un to an unusually large number of events this year, including the inspection of an east coast navy base.

Madden said Sin’s career was unclear, but given his one-star rank, he was likely to assume command of the North Korean troops in Russia once Kim Yong Bok and Ri Chang Ho departed.

The deployment of up to 12,000 North Korean troops to Russia has become a key topic as U.S. and South Korean leaders meet in Washington this week, fuelling concerns that the presence of those soldiers will further destabilise the Asia-Pacific and broaden Moscow‘s war on Ukraine.

As some of those troops moved closer to Ukraine this week from training sites in eastern Russia, the main questions revolve around what new military technologies North Korea might get from Russia in exchange for the deployment and whether it might lead other nations to send their own forces to fight in the war.

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A Russian glide bomb struck a Kharkiv apartment block with local authorities claiming a child was killed and 34 residents injured.

Chief of the regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram: “Unfortunately, a child died. Despite all efforts, medics failed to resuscitate the boy.”

As a result of the impact, part of the nine-storey apartment block was almost completely destroyed.

He added at least two people including a child were still trapped under the rubble.

The body of the 11-year-old was retrieved from under the rubble with severe head injuries and fractures.

North Korea tested an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday amid Western concerns about Pyongyang receiving weapons technology from Russia in return for allegedly sending soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

Pyongyang confirmed the launch, the first in nearly a year, a few hours after neighbours South Korea and Japan detected the firing of what they suspected was a new, more agile weapon capable of targeting mainland US, in a bid to grab American attention ahead of next week’s presidential election.

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