Just days before Kim Jong Un is due to stand with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to witness a display of China’s military might, North Korea has released a propaganda film praising its troops’ efforts fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
The 20-minute video, released by North Korean state media KCTV, showed heavily dramatized shots of soldiers on the snow-covered battlefield – handling weapons, holding meetings with Russian soldiers, and installing bombs on trees.
It also showed aerial footage purporting to show damage inflicted by North Korean soldiers, with clips of explosions and targeted strikes.
Other parts of the video emphasized the soldiers’ patriotism – with one shot appearing to show soldiers gazing at a framed portrait of Kim, and another showing a soldier pressing his cheek to the North Korean flag.
It’s unclear how much of the footage is authentic, or whether it has been staged or manipulated, as is common in North Korean propaganda. CNN cannot independently verify when and where the videos were filmed.
“They’re presenting their participation in the Ukrainian war as a major exploit, as another confirmation of (North Korea’s) military might and their loyalty to the party, state and the leader himself,” said Andrei Lankov, a professor of Korean Studies at Kookmin University in Seoul.
The video offers a rosy view of the situation on the ground in a theatre that has become notorious for human wave attacks and horrific attrition rates on the Russian side. Western officials estimated that a third of the 12,000 North Korea troops believed to be part of the initial deployment were either killed or wounded.
The program, initially shrouded in secrecy, was later confirmed by both Pyongyang and Moscow. In recent weeks, Kim finally acknowledged the loss of troops, holding two events in August to meet bereaved families.
Credit: cnn.com
