North Korea has treated hundreds of Russian soldiers injured in Ukraine, Moscow\u2019s ambassador to Pyongyang told state media, as he revealed new details of the reclusive state\u2019s backing for the Kremlin\u2019s war effort. <\/p>\n
Wounded Russian troops have been recovering in North Korean medical facilities, Ambassador Alexander Matsegora told state-run outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an extensive interview published Sunday. <\/p>\n
\u201cA clear example of such a brotherly attitude (between Russian and North Korea) is the rehabilitation of hundreds of wounded soldiers \u2026 in Korean sanatoriums and hospitals,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The Russian envoy\u2019s comments are the latest sign of deepening ties between the two countries, which have recently reached heights unseen since the Cold War. <\/p>\n
North Korea has sent about 12,000 soldiers to Russia, according to Ukrainian officials and Western intelligence reports, following Moscow and Pyongyang\u2019s pledge to help each other if either nation is attacked in a landmark defense pact signed last June. <\/p>\n
About 4,000 North Korean troops have reportedly been killed or injured in combat after being deployed to Kursk since at least November to repel Ukraine\u2019s incursion in the southern Russian border region, Ukrainian officials and Western intelligence said. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Russia has also received thousands of shipping containers of munitions or munitions-related material from North Korea, and Moscow\u2019s forces have launched North Korea-made missiles on Ukraine, according to US officials. <\/p>\n
In his interview with state media, Matsegora claimed that North Korea had treated wounded Russian soldiers for free. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we offered to compensate our (North Korean) friends for at least part of their expenses, they were sincerely offended and asked us never to do it again,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Matsegora also said that children of Russian troops killed in Ukraine had vacationed in North Korea last summer, and Russia and North Korea are developing student exchanges. <\/p>\n
Moscow supplies Pyongyang with coal, food, and medicine, he added. <\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s intelligence service declined to comment on Matsegora\u2019s remarks. <\/p>\n
The extent of care potentially available to wounded Russian troops within North Korea\u2019s dilapidated health infrastructure remains unclear. <\/p>\n
Doctors who have defected in recent years often speak of poor working conditions and shortages of everything from medicine to basic health care supplies. <\/p>\n
Some analysts also cast doubt on Matsegora\u2019s troop recuperation remarks, pointing to Russia\u2019s brutal military tactics as the war in Ukraine grinds toward its third anniversary. <\/p>\n
Russia \u201chas reportedly been sending wounded personnel back into assault groups without treatment, demonstrating a general disregard for soldiers\u2019 health,\u201d The Institute for the Study of War said in a news release Monday, \u201ccalling into question official Russian claims to be sending Russian soldiers abroad for treatment, particularly to North Korea.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, any arrival of experienced Russian troops, particularly officers, in North Korea \u201cmay allow the Russian military to work with North Korean forces and disseminate lessons from the war in Ukraine while ostensibly recuperating,\u201d the US-based conflict monitor added. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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