Putin ‘plans to deploy thousands of North Korean soldiers to dig tunnels under front lines and attack Ukraine from behind’

North Korea is believed to be sending thousands of tunnel troops into Russia to open a new “underground front” on the border with Ukraine, as part of a deal with Vladimir Putin.

Kiev suspects that the military engineers Kim Jong Un is sending are not intended for “reconstruction work” in the Donbas, as claimed, but for some other purpose.

Russia has already used tunnels twice in the conflict, in Avdiivka and Toretsk, said analyst Aleksey Kushch of United Ukraine, who warned of an attempt by Putin to break the war deadlock by digging tunnels in the summer and fall.

“According to various sources, about five engineering brigades of the North Korean army will arrive in the Donbas,” he said.

If so, it could be 15,000 men, or more. Kushch said it was “illogical” that they were working on “recovery” while the war was “in full swing.”

Kim Jong Un, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands after signing a comprehensive strategic partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, June 19, 2024

He said: ‘The Russian breakthrough at Avdiivka and Toretsk took place, among other things, thanks to the use of underground tunnels.’

In Avdiivka there was already a tunnel, while in Toretsk it was dug and is almost three kilometers long.

This was “a new war technology… to protect against drone and artillery attacks – undermining, moving back, taking up positions, digging in,” he said.

He warned, “Who can dig better than the Koreans?”

Pyongyang has “developed its own theory of underground warfare” based on operations during the Korean War.

In the 1970s, tunnels were discovered stretching between North and South Korea, which defectors say were ordered to be built by Kim Il Sung’s army.

Korea’s underground warfare techniques were reportedly developed out of fear of a Western attack with nuclear weapons.

In eastern Ukraine, “underground tactics can be used for a ‘stealth offensive’ and to break through complex, layered defense lines, and to minimize losses from drone and artillery strikes,” he said.

A T-64 tank passes by in Novoselivka Persha after leaving Avdiivka, Ukraine

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the ‘underground war’ strategy was approved during Putin’s visit to the DPRK. Perhaps it was suggested by the North Koreans themselves.”

Ukraine must “technically prepare for such risks,” he added.

In Avdiivka, 28-year-old Russian commander Anton “Zima” Morozov led his troops on his hands and knees through a two-and-a-half-kilometer-long concrete pipe that the Russians had been clearing for months.

They pushed behind Ukrainian positions in some of the bloodiest and fiercest fighting of the war.

A Russian account of this operation states: ‘When everything was ready, more than 100 of our assault soldiers forced their way through the pipe to the rear of the Ukrainian key position called Tsar Hunt (formerly a hotel and recreation complex).

A Ukrainian soldier is seen during a training in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Saturday, June 29, 2024.

‘Most of the defending Ukrainian forces were destroyed and about a dozen were captured.

The operation gave the Russians an important bridgehead and accelerated the Ukrainians’ withdrawal from Avdiivka.

Morozov was nominated for the Kremlin’s highest award, Hero of Russia, but was assassinated before he could receive it.

He was shot eleven times during an operation believed to have taken place in Ukraine.