18 North Korean Soldiers Have Gone AWOL Near Ukrainian Border

The Suspiline news outlet, citing Ukrainian intelligence sources, reported that 18 North Korean soldiers fled their positions somewhere on the border between the Bryansk and Kursk regions of Russia, just 7 kilometers (4.4 miles) from the state border with Ukraine.

The source said the reason for them absenting themselves is not known but it said Russian forces were currently hunting them while the commanders in the area were trying to cover up the incident and to hide it from higher command.

The incident comes just a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward a request to ratify the treaty for a “comprehensive strategic partnership” between the Russian Federation and North Korea, which had been signed on June 19 during Putin’s visit to the DPRK.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on intelligence reports that six North Korean officers were killed, and three others injured by a missile strike that killed as many as 20 occupation troops near Donetsk on Oct. 3.

The report of these soldiers being absent without leave (AWOL) also coincided with other intelligence reports that up to 3,000 North Korean combat troops were being trained to form a “special Buryat battalion” at the base of the 11th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Russian army at Sosnovy Bor near Ulan Ude in Buryatia. The reports say the unit is currently being provided with weapons and equipment.

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A Ukrainian milblogger, Igor Sushko, said on X / Twitter on Tuesday that the North Korean troops were being issued with Russian military identity cards identifying them as Buryats. The Buryatia Republic is situated in eastern Siberia, where its indigenous people have an Asian appearance.

Andrei Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, commented that integrating North Korean military personnel into Russian forces was likely to be complicated by the language barrier: “Less than 1% of the cadre officers in the North Korean army are proficient in Russian. Understanding this is crucial for examining the potential future involvement of these troops with the Russian armed forces.

“Although Russia might utilize North Korean soldiers initially in the Kursk region, there’s a possibility that several tens of thousands could eventually be deployed to Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories alongside Buryat counterparts,” Kovalenko added.

Other commentators suggest that rather than filling combat roles North Korean troops could used in logistical support tasks freeing Russian troops for the frontline.