KCNA via REUTERS
- Ukraine shared audio it said was intercepted from Russians readying to receive North Korean troops.
- It comes as NATO confirms that North Korean troops are already fighting in Ukraine.
- On the call, Russians complained about not knowing how the North Koreans would be commanded and supplied.
North Korean forces are facing a frantic and unorganized start as they join Russia’s fight against Ukraine, intercepted audio suggests.
Ukrainian intelligence shared the audio conversation on Friday, identifying it as an intercepted call between Russian servicemen from a battalion stationed in Russia’s western Kursk region.
In the call, whose provenance Business Insider was unable to independently verify, there is an expletive-filled discussion about how exactly Russian troops are going to manage the new arrivals.
Voices discuss the imminent arrival of North Korean servicemen. They are given the codename of the “K battalion” but are also referred to erroneously as “the Chinese.”
The speakers, per Ukrainian intelligence, are from Russia’s 810th Separate Marine Brigade — a unit that has been involved in countering Ukraine’s surprise incursion in Kursk.
They talk in exasperated terms over unclear communication about the North Korean troops. “He has no fucking clue what to do with them,” one voice said about a responsible officer.
In another section of the audio, a voice highlights how it’s been unclear exactly who is going to provide the North Koreans with food, ammunition, and other supplies.
“Oh, who the fuck knows,” he says, later saying: “We did get the rations for everyone but they won’t give us the ammunition.”
The conversation also notes a language barrier. There will be one interpreter for every 30 people, a voice said, going on to complain: “One thing that I don’t get: We need three leaders for each group of 30. Where are we supposed to get them fuck knows.”
The audio gives an apparent snapshot of the difficulties of organizing military operations between countries that have little recent experience cooperating and which don’t share a language.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Monday that North Korean troops had been deployed to Kursk, where Ukraine has staged an incursion since early August.
It comes after South Korean intelligence said it had confirmed growing media reports of the secretive state readying to send thousands of troops to train in Russia, and ultimately to go and fight on Moscow’s side in Ukraine.
The partnership is viewed by experts as offering both Moscow and Pyongyang considerable benefits.
While Russia will receive a fighting boost, cash-strapped North Korea is likely to receive economic benefits and technological know-how in exchange.
Experts on North Korea and its military culture earlier told Business Insider that coordination of forces would likely be a struggle.
“To conduct combat operations with an allied force that doesn’t speak your language presents real problems,” said Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., an expert in North Korean defense at the Center for International and Strategic Studies.
While both countries have historical ties, most Russians don’t speak Korean, and vice versa, he said.
Bermudez also said that there is a “significant” level of racism in parts of the Russian army, which may lead North Korean troops to be disrespected, at least at first.
The logistical challenge of everything — from how to communicate to giving the North Koreans food they are familiar with — will present real hurdles, he added.
“It is rather surprising that Russia would want such troops in combat, considering the probable logistic and other challenges that integrating such troops into Russian combat operations will likely entail,” he said.