Satellite images expose secret troop movements from North Korea to Russia
Satellite images reveal the transport of North Korean soldiers to Russia to support warfare against Ukraine, CNN reports.
New analyses from an American think tank indicate that hundreds of North Korean soldiers have been transported by sea to Russia. Satellite images show that in October and November, Russian warships transported soldiers to the military port in Dunai, in the Far East.
Mysterious operations in Dunai
According to South Korean intelligence, the transports were conducted from ports in Chongjin, Hamhung, and Musudan in North Korea. Satellite images from October show activities related to the transfer of soldiers at the Russian Dunai base.
The images identified Russian Ropucha and Alligator class ships, which can carry up to 400 soldiers. Dunai, as an isolated military facility, facilitates secret operations by avoiding the attention of civilians and intelligence services, the think tank reports.
Ukrainian and Western intelligence reports from the beginning of the year estimate that a total of about 12,000 North Korean soldiers have already been sent to Russia, of which 4,000 have been killed or injured.
Furthermore, there are at least two cases of Koreans being taken prisoner by Ukrainians, as reported by Volodymyr Zelensky himself.
The think tank suggests that Russia and North Korea may no longer be using the sea route to transport soldiers. South Korean intelligence reports frequent flights of Russian military planes between Vladivostok and Pyongyang. CNN attempted to obtain a comment from the Russian Ministry of Defence - to no avail.
