Truckloads of North Korean troops may have reached the front in Kursk

The Kremlin has secretly transported North Korean troops toward the Ukrainian-held salient in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, if intercepted Russian radio communications are any indication.

The intercepted conversation, released Sunday by Ukrainian intelligence and translated by Estonian analyst WarTranslated, appears to confirm what Ukrainian sources have been saying for days – that thousands of North Korean soldiers have arrived on the front line in western Russia.

The intercepted conversation between two Russian military officials concerned the driver of a KAMAZ truck named Andrey Sveridenko, who was stopped on the way to Kursk. On August 6, a strong Ukrainian force entered Kursk and quickly occupied hundreds of square miles.

The Russian military police “held some KAMAZs on a highway” in Kursk Oblast, one of the officers told his counterpart in a radio exchange.

The truck’s license plate, 497, “is a civilian number,” the first officer said. The vehicle had “no combat use,” so military police “were concerned.”

“I’ll handle it,” the other officer replied. He reported that Sweridenko “assisted in the transfer of North Koreans.”

“Ah, that’s why he’s not on combat duty,” the first officer said. In other words, Pyongyang’s deployment of forces in Kursk is unofficial – which is unsurprising given that the Kremlin has labeled reports of North Korean troops in Russia as “fake news.”

According to WarTranslated, Sveridenko’s shipment of North Korean soldiers was intended for the Russian Navy’s 810th Marine Infantry Brigade, which is trying to push back Ukrainian advances on the eastern edge of the Kursk Salient around the village of Russkaya Konopelka. So far, Ukrainian drones and artillery have been able to repel the Russians.

Marine units like the 810th Marine Brigade are notorious for their brutality and lack of discipline. On October 10, the 155th Marine Brigade, stationed on the western edge of the Kursk Salient, captured, robbed and executed nine Ukrainian drone operators.

Since then, four Ukrainian elite brigades have been specifically hunting down platoons of the 155th Marine Infantry Brigade, ambushing them and taking no prisoners.

If the radio message intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence indicates a major advance by North Korean forces toward Kursk, it is likely only a matter of time before there is direct evidence of North Koreans in combat. The first evidence could even be a video of North Koreans being attacked by Ukrainian drones.