Binding the hands of the defending state could only provide a few years of tranquility at the expense of Ukraine – Kyslytsya

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Statement by Ambassador Sergiy Sergíy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine at the UN Security Council meeting on “Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine”.

Madam President, distinguished members of the Security Council, Assistant-Secretary-General Jenča,

I would have also recognised here putin’s caporegime in the permanent seat of the Soviet Union but he, as it’s his habit, ran away.

We requested this meeting to address another step taken by moscow to further escalate its war against Ukraine.

At the Security Council meeting on 21 October, Ukraine and a number of other delegations raised an issue of the engagement of the DPRK troops into the russian armed aggression against my country.

Since then, the situation has been evolving in a menacing direction.

According to available information, the DPRK military personnel consisting of up to 12 thousand servicemen, is being trained at five training grounds in the Eastern Military District of the russian Armed Forces.

This contingent includes at least 500 officers of the DPRK army, with three generals from the General Staff of the “Korean people’s army” of the DPRK:

– Colonel General Kim Young Bok, Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Special Forces Operations;

– Colonel General Lee Chang Ho, Deputy Chief of the General Staff – Head of the Reconnaissance Directorate; and

– Major General Shin Geum Cheol, Head of the Main Operational Directorate.

Subsequently, it is planned to form at least 5 units or formations from DPRK military personnel consisting of 2,000-3,000 servicemen each. One such unit is equivalent to that of a motorized rifle regiment.

The DPRK servicemen are supposed to wear russian uniforms and use russian small arms. They will also be provided with russian identity documents.

Notably, to conceal their presence, the DPRK servicemen are expected to be integrated into the russian units, manned by representatives of ethnic minorities from the Asian part of russia. Among them, for instance, is the “Special Buryat Battalion” of the 11th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the russian Airborne Forces.

The training of the DPRK military personnel in the russian Far East is being conducted by experienced russian military instructors from the Airborne Forces and Special Operations units.

According to available information, between October 23 and 28, at least seven aircraft carrying military personnel of up to 2,100 soldiers flew from the Eastern Military District to the russia’s border with Ukraine.

The number of DPRK soldiers expected to be transferred from the russia’s Primorskiy Krai by the end of October 2024 may reach 4,500. It is also expected that in November 2024, DPRK military personnel will begin directly participating in combat operations against Ukraine’s Defense Forces.

On October 26, 400 DPRK soldiers arrived in the western part of russia’s Kursk region. The area of their deployment was prepared by engineering units of the moscow Military District of the russian Armed Forces. Moreover, the preparatory work for deployment of additional DPRK forces in the above area is now underway.

The abovementioned DPRK units will likely operate in the area of responsibility of 11th Separate Air Assault Brigade. According to information at our disposal, an operational group of 40 DPRK servicemen has been conducting reconnaissance in the area of responsibility of this brigade since October 20.

Madam President,

Even mice and cockroaches in this Chamber, but not the russian ambassador, know that none of the countries that provide assistance to Ukraine is under the UN Security Council sanctions. In its turn receiving assistance from the fully sanctioned North Korea is a brazen violation of the UN Charter and the UNSC resolutions.

It goes without saying that sending the DPRK troops to support russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is a flagrant violation of international law, including the UN Charter.

Moreover, training by the russian Federation of DPRK regular units constitutes a violation of Security Council resolutions 1718, 1874 and 2270. In turn, DPRK soldiers providing or receiving any training or other assistance related to use of arms, including ballistic missiles, is also a violation of the mentioned Council’s resolutions.

In this regard, let me outline the relevant restrictions imposed by UN Security Council resolutions on the DPRK:

– resolutions 1718 and 1874 prohibit arms supply to and from the DPRK;

– paragraph 6 of resolution 2270 expands the measures in paragraph 8 (a) of resolution 1718 to small arms and light weapons;

– paragraph 8 (c) of resolution 1718 prohibit transfers from the DPRK of technical training, advice or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of the items in relevant subparagraphs of this resolution;

– paragraph 9 of resolution 2270 recalls paragraph 9 of resolution 1874 (2009) that requires States to prohibit the procurement from the DPRK prohibits States from engaging in the hosting of trainers, advisors, or other officials for the purpose of military -, paramilitary- or police-related training.

russia continues its attacks on DPRK sanctions regime, and its final goal seems to be clear – to dismantle the entire system of global deterrence of the Pyongyang regime.

We call on the Security Council, and its 1718 Sanctions Committee, to address the issue of non-compliance of the DPRK and the russian Federation with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Madam President,

Active involvement of the DPRK troops in the russian war of aggression against Ukraine represents very bad news for the world. It is the most dangerous development over the recent period of the war in terms of its global implications.

Building the interoperability of the russian and DPRK armies constitutes a threat to Europe, the Korean peninsula, its neighbors and beyond

.

Some may reassure themselves that russia needs DPRK soldiers merely as cannon fodder to continue their meat-grinder assaults against Ukrainian forces. However, this is only part of the truth and not the main point.

The Pyongyang regime is not merely supplying its soldiers to russia. It pursues its own interests and long-term goals. Those DPRK servicemen, especially officers, who survive the russia-Ukraine war, will return to their region with exceptional experience in modern warfare.

One may wonder how the Pyongyang regime plans to utilize these experienced units. The truth is that we all know the answer. When we say that the war is gradually expanding from the European theater to the Far East, it is not solely because the entry and formation points for the DPRK combat units are located there. It is also because they are likely to be used not only in Ukraine.

Actually, it speaks volumes that putin himself, contrary to his usual practice of denying everything, has not denied either the presence of DPRK forces or the far-reaching plans that both dictatorships have in this regard. Referring to the article on mutual military assistance in their recent bilateral agreement on comprehensive strategic partnership, putin openly threatened the world by stating that “what and how we will do – that is our own business within the framework of this article.”

This is nothing more than bullying on a global scale by a criminal who is confident of his own impunity.

This behavior is a result of the comforting tolerance which russia’s mafia state enjoys in response to its irresponsible and destructive attitude towards the United Nations and to the Security Council itself. For over 30 years of its presence in the Security Council, russia has systematically and consistently undermined this body’s capability to maintain peace and security.

Therefore, nothing unpredictable has happened; this is just another episode in the “RUtflix” series, which we have all been watching for many years, including in this Chamber and on the UN webcast.

Just recently, we condemned russia for dismantling the monitoring mechanism of the DPRK sanctions regime. Now, the sanctions regime itself is under threat.

The leniency of the Security Council towards russia has been stretched so much that it is broken. The Council is broken, and as the Secretary-General says, the system does not work for anyone.

This is why we call for action. And if the Security Council is immobilized by russia’s presence, then we must seek other formats and forms of such action.

We have heard now and then that russia would never cross this or that red line of the civilised world. But open your eyes! russia is not crossing your red lines – it is walking down a red carpet. A carpet, woven from weak responses, unfounded hopes, and complacency. In truth, it is not even a red carpet but a river of blood, one that began flowing the moment russia was given the Soviet seat in this Chamber. Do I need to remind anyone whose blood flows in this river?

That’s why I am sorry to have heard so much skepticism that russia would go so far as to openly establish a military alliance with the most notorious rogue state.

But why this disbelief? Didn’t Ukraine warn of the aggressive nature of the entity called the russian Federation? Haven’t russia’s other neighbors, like the Baltic states, warned the same?

What else needs to happen for the world to finally accept the truth that russia will not cease further damaging the cornerstones of global security until they are dismantled or until russia is stopped?

And this is not an alarmist doomsday prediction from a pundit on a political talk show. It is simply a description of what is happening before your eyes – the same “RUtflix” series we all are watching.

Tomorrow, there will be a new cheap episode here in the Security Council. Once again, you will have to come and listen to russia’s absurdities about the so-called threats related to supplying weapons to Ukraine.

And what is most surprising is that, even in the face of the evolving military alliance between russia and the DPRK, there are still people who desperately want to believe that limiting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself—and now from two nuclear states—will somehow make these states more inclined towards peace.

This position is either infantile or cynical. Binding the hands of the defending state could only provide a few years of tranquility at the expense of Ukraine, its people, and its infrastructure.

And Ukraine will never agree to such a scenario. I do believe that other responsible nations will not either.

I thank you.

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