Sikorski on Russia’s involvement of DPRK military: This is not sign of Russia’s status as great power at all
The fact that Russia is forced to rely on soldiers from North Korea is not a sign of Russia's status as a great power.
According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform, this was stated by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski during a media interview after a meeting with cadets of the Netherlands Defense Academy in Breda.
According to Sikorski, there are different reports about the actual location of North Korean soldiers.
"Their presence was confirmed in the far east (of Russia - ed.). As far as I know, they are not on the front line yet. But first of all, let me say that it is not a sign of Russia's status as a great power that it needs to rely on soldiers and ammunition from the Stalinist dictatorship in North Korea or the theocratic regime in Tehran," Sikorski said.
The Polish foreign minister added that Putin's allies are the leaders of North Korea and Iran, which, according to him, can hardly be called progress and achievement. At the same time, Sikorski noted that this is an alarming development, both in terms of what it could mean for Ukraine's defense war and what Russia could give the DPRK in return. "And I'm sure it's nothing good," he added.
Earlier it was reported that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed Russia's involvement of North Korean soldiers in the war against Ukraine.
Participation of the DPRK military in Russia's war against Ukraine
On October 17, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia was training ten thousand North Korean soldiers for the war in Ukraine, including infantry.
Earlier, the Washington Post wrote that several thousand soldiers from the DPRK are being trained in Russia and may be sent to the front in Ukraine.
As a reminder, in early October, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said that the DPRK could send its military to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to support Russia's war against our country.
The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, Andrii Kovalenko, said that the information about Russia's alleged preparation of DPRK soldiers to be sent to the front in Ukraine was not true.
On October 15, the media reported that on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian occupation army, the Russians began to form a so-called "special Buryat battalion". It will be staffed by North Korean citizens.
Subsequently, the head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, said that almost 11,000 soldiers from North Korea are currently being trained in eastern Russia to fight against Ukraine. They will be ready for combat as early as November 1.
At the same time, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that the United States has not yet confirmed that North Korea is sending troops to Russia.
South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul because of the DPRK's participation in the war against Ukraine.
It was reported that eighteen North Korean soldiers had already escaped from the Russian army positions on the border of Ukraine with Bryansk and Kursk regions. It later became known that they had been detained.
South Korea's permanent representative to the UN Security Council, Jonkuk Hwang, said that Russia could pay for the participation of North Korean military in the war against Ukraine with nuclear weapons technology.
And The Guardian wrote that Russia could send North Korean troops to capture Pokrovsk in Donetsk region or to winter assaults on other important areas on Ukraine's eastern front.
Later, the Pentagon confirmed that DPRK troops had arrived in Russia.
On October 25, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that, according to intelligence, the first North Korean military would be used by Russia in combat zones on October 27-28.
