Sending North Korean units to Ukrainian front will not currently lead to major changes - Estonian intel

That is according to Colonel Ants Kiviselg, head of the Estonian Defense Forces' Intelligence Center, Ukrinform reports, citing ERR.

Kiviselg said that the participation of North Korean units in combat operations on Ukrainian territory today would not bring much change and North Korean troops would most likely suffer heavy losses.

Kiviselg noted that, according to Ukrainian data, 3,000 soldiers from the DPRK's 11th Army Corps, including about 200 servicemen from the North Korean special forces, arrived in Russia's Kursk region.

"These servicemen probably arrived in the Russian Federation in early October, where they underwent preliminary training in the Eastern Military District, which lasted from two to four weeks, after which their transfer to the Ukrainian front began," Kiviselg said.

"It is believed that North Korea has promised to send a total of 10,000 to 12,000 troops to the Russian Federation, including 500 officers and three generals. The arrival of North Korean soldiers to the Ukrainian front will most likely take place in stages. The arrival of subsequent North Korean units to the Ukrainian front will take place, accordingly, in the coming weeks," he said.

Kiviselg noted that as a rule, North Korean soldiers are trained to fight in mountainous terrain, so they are not familiar with Ukrainian territory, its climate and geography.

"Their training does not assume combat operations in such areas. The training they undergo in the Russian Federation is certainly not of a high level. Therefore, we can expect that North Korean units will suffer heavy losses in Ukraine, and probably even heavier than those that Russian troops have suffered so far," Kiviselg said.

Despite this, he said, North Korea may continue to send its units to Russia and the Ukrainian front

"Despite this, the intelligence center's assessment remains the same: sending North Korean units to Ukraine at the moment will not lead to major changes. But if the additional transfer of these units to Russia, their training and subsequent arrival at the Ukrainian front continues in the long term, this could certainly lead to some changes on the front line," Kiviselg said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated earlier that 3,000 North Korean soldiers were already fighting on Russia's side and that their number would soon increase to 12,000.