ISW assesses potential consequences of DPRK troops deployment in assaults against AFU

North Korea's ability to learn from combat operations alongside Russia will significantly deteriorate if North Korean troops are deployed in exhausting infantry assaults.

This is according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), as cited by Ukrinform.

The experts noted that on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russian forces had involved North Korean troops in infantry assaults in Russia's Kursk region. He stated that Russian units operating in the area now include a substantial number of North Korean soldiers, who have already suffered notable losses.

The President added that Russia may later begin deploying North Korean troops to other sections of the frontline.

“This is the first time a Ukrainian official has reported that North Korean forces are conducting assault operations," the ISW analysts sclaim. They recalled that on November 5, Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korea's KBS broadcaster that Ukrainian forces had engaged in “small-scale clashes” with North Korean troops in Kursk region.

The ISW also highlighted that Russian military bloggers recently acknowledged the participation of North Korean forces in assaults in Kursk region, particularly in operations near Plekhovо. The ISW, however, cannot independently verify these claims.

“North Korea's ability to learn and integrate lessons from fighting alongside Russia is likely to be significantly degraded if the Russian military command uses North Korean troops in the same highly attritional infantry-led assaults that it uses most Russian personnel,” the experts noted.

As Ukrinform previously reported, on December 14, Zelensky announced that preliminary data indicated Russia had begun deploying significant numbers of North Korean soldiers in assault operations in Kursk region.