According to the military-political analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko, North Korea handed Russia more than 2 million mines for mortars.
Points of attention
- Russia has received over 2 million mortar mines from North Korea, but their quality is questionable with low accuracy and high risk of failure.
- The use of North Korean mortars by Russia in the conflict with Ukraine may not significantly increase fire intensity due to the ineffectiveness of these mines.
- The number of shots fired per day by Russia with these mortar mines is high, but the share of mortar fire among Russians has exceeded 15-20 thousand per day during the conflict with Ukraine.
- In the third year of the war against Ukraine, Russia may face challenges as it reduces its mortar supplies and relies on millions of mines from DPRK, which may not be sufficient.
- The cooperation between DPRK and Russia faces diplomatic challenges, and the decision to receive weapons from North Korea is of a military nature, emphasizing the support for Ukraine.
What is known about Russia's receipt of millions of mortar mines from the DPRK
At the same time, Kovalenko noted that the quality of these mines is quite low and questionable.
After the meeting between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, more than 2 million 120-mm and 82-mm mortar mines were sent to Russia from the DPRK. Mortar mines are currently the largest component of ammunition sent from the DPRK to the Russian Federation. In fact, by firing up to 5,500 shots per day with this component alone, the ROVs will be able to ensure a stable level of guidance throughout the year. But will they be able to? - emphasizes the analyst.
According to him, there are several aspects to this issue.
Kovalenko emphasized that these are mines of extremely low quality and additional powder charges as well.
With the set firing range of 4-6 km, the actual range is 2-3 km. Accuracy is low. Not all detonate after arrival. A high rate of clogging of the mortar barrel channel," the analyst emphasizes.
Kovalenko emphasized that the number of shots of 5.5 thousand per day is a rather high indicator, however, after Russia launched a criminal war against Ukraine in 2022, the share of mortar fire among Russians exceeded 15-20 thousand per day.
According to him, the current intensity of enemy fire, with the use of all means of fire, is no more than 15,000 shots per day at the Russian occupiers.
Why millions of North Korean mines may turn out to be useless for Russia
At the same time, the analyst emphasizes that in the third year of Russia's war against Ukraine, the Russian aggressors have reduced the mortars themselves, and without their supplies from other countries, millions of mines from the DPRK will be ineffective.
In his opinion, containers with weapons sent by the DPRK to Russia may contain not only mines, but also mortars.
However, all these points absolutely do not cancel the acute problems of cooperation between the DPRK and Russia, why there cannot be a diplomatic solution. The decision is exclusively of a military nature, connected with the strengthening of support for Ukraine, Kovalenko emphasizes.
