Recent videos circulating on pro-Kremlin social media have allegedly shown North Korean soldiers training at a Russian military base, further fueling rumors and implications of North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war effort against Ukraine. The videos, shared by military bloggers on Telegram and analyzed by open source groups like Geoconfirmed, were geolocated to a base near Sergeevka, in Primorsky Krai, Russia. This site is situated approximately 40 kilometers from the China-Russia border and 240 kilometers from the North Korea-Russia border, near Khasan. The footage’s authenticity remains unverified, and it is unclear if the soldiers shown are indeed from North Korea.
The circulation of the alleged videos comes following a South Korean intelligence report that North Korea has already deployed troops to support Russia. According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), 1,500 special forces troops from North Korea were sent to Russia’s far east for training, with plans to integrate them into the war in Ukraine. The NIS claimed that these soldiers had been transported to Russia via naval vessels and were provided with Russian-made weapons, uniforms, and forged identification documents to disguise their origins.
The NIS also stated that it had collaborated with Ukrainian intelligence to confirm the presence of North Korean military personnel in eastern Ukraine, using facial recognition technology. North Korean officers were reportedly identified in the Donetsk region, where they were said to be assisting Russian forces. The intelligence agency further revealed that since August 2023, North Korea has supplied over 13,000 containers of artillery rounds, ballistic missiles, and anti-tank rockets to Russia, with more than 8 million rounds of ammunition already shipped to the front lines in Ukraine. The press release also included satellite images showing the movement of Russian landing ships in the East Sea, which were reportedly used to transport the North Korean soldiers to Russia.
