Inexperienced, poorly trained and underfed: the North Korean troops heading to Ukraine

Kim Jong-un has called his army the ‘strongest in the world’ but they are vulnerable to malnutrition, and none have seen combat or know the terrain in Russia’s war

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, centre, supervises artillery firing drills in North Korea in March. US officials claim Russia had been training the North Korean troops to use artillery, drones and 'basic infantry operations'. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

Depending on whom you ask, they are the boost that Russian forces need to make a significant breakthrough in Ukraine, or they are simple cannon fodder, destined for repatriation in body bags.

After weeks of speculation, Nato and the Pentagon have confirmed that around 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, with most massing near Ukraine’s border in Kursk, where the Kremlin’s forces have struggled to repel a Ukrainian incursion.