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Credit: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine / Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication
Russian soldiers have been heard complaining about the “f—— Chinese” as the first North Korean troops arrive on the front line of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
In an intercepted phone call released by Ukrainian intelligence, two Russian servicemen criticised chaotic plans to integrate North Korean soldiers into their command structures.
One soldier used a racist term to refer to the Koreans as “f—— Chinese”. In another snippet, reported by CNN, a soldier describes the reaction of a fellow Russian soldier after a meeting with the new Korean arrivals.
“He’s like standing there with his eyes out, like… f—… He came here and says ‘what the f— to do with them’.”
At another point in the intercept, the soldiers question whether they have the resources to deal with the Korean soldiers.
“The only thing I don’t understand is that there [should be] three senior officers for 30 people. Where do we get them? We’ll have to pull them out,” one Russian serviceman said.
Western intelligence officials assess that several thousand North Korean soldiers are ready to be deployed to the Kursk region of Russia, where Ukraine has managed to maintain a foothold after launching a surprise attack in the summer.
Ruben Brekelmans, the Dutch defence minister, said on Friday that at least 1,500 troops sent by Pyongyang had now arrived at the front lines.
“We expect the troops will mainly be deployed in Kursk and consist of mainly special units from the North Korean army,” Mr Brekelmans said.
According to US intelligence estimates, some 3,000 North Korean troops are receiving training in Russia for possible combat on the frontline.
Volodymyr Zelensky said the Korean soldiers could start fighting this weekend.
“According to intelligence, on Oct 27 to 28, Russia will deploy its first North Korean troops in combat zones. This is a clear step in Russia’s escalation,” the Ukrainian president said on Friday.
Kyiv has also denied claims by Vladimir Putin that his troops have encircled its units in the Kursk Oblast.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: “This is blatant disinformation that does not reflect the real situation. Ukrainian forces continue active operations on the Kursk front, for the third consecutive month, depleting the enemy’s combat potential.”
The Russian president insisted this week that his army was making progress in taking back occupied parts of the Kursk region, telling state television that the Ukrainian troops “do not even really understand that they are encircled”.
Russia continued its attacks on Ukrainian population centres including Dnipro and Kyiv on Friday night. Missile attacks on Dnipro killed three people and left a further nine injured.
Mr Zelensky has reportedly snubbed António Guterres, the UN secretary general, after he attended the Brics summit hosted by Mr Putin in the city of Kazan this week.
Mr Guterres had planned to visit Kyiv after the summit, but a government source told the BBC that “after Kazan and after he shook hands with the war’s instigator and spent UN Day on the territory of the aggressor country, it would be somehow strange to host him here”.
The G7 nations have also finalised the details of a $50 billion loan to Kyiv taken from frozen Russian assets.
The group of seven large democracies said that it had “reached a consensus on how to deliver” the funds.
