North Korean troops deployed a unique air defense system in Russia's Kursk region, but the Russians destroyed it by mistake, Forbes reported.
When North Korea's Eleventh Army Corps arrived in Kursk to support Russian troops fighting Ukrainian forces, it brought with it anti-tank vehicles, howitzers, rocket launchers, and a rare air defense system.
What's unique about this system is its appearance. The air defense complex is a combination of a large wheeled chassis with a radar and a Russian "Tor" (surface-to-air) missile launcher, which usually moves on tracks. The North Korean "Tor" is so unusual that the Russians themselves apparently did not recognize it as friendly. Russian drones spotted and hit the North Korean machine, destroying it, the sources said.
The Russians even released a video of the attack, believing they had hit Ukrainian air defenses. But it appears that what was initially thought to be a “Western-made radar system“ was actually a North Korean version of the “Tor“ SAM, Polish analysts at WarVehicleTracker note.
The Russian drone operators were not warned about the arrival of the North Korean equipment. It is a painful loss for the Russian-North Korean forces (numbering 60,000 people in the Kursk region), which have been trying to push out 20,000 Ukrainians for months. In August, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a surprise offensive on Russian territory and occupied part of the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a few days ago shared a video of the interrogation of captured North Korean soldiers and said that Kiev was ready to hand them over to Pyongyang in exchange for Ukrainian soldiers captured in Russia. “Ukraine is ready to hand over the soldiers to (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un if he manages to organize their exchange for our fighters who are being held captive in Russia,“ Zelenskyy said. The Kremlin declined to comment on Zelensky's statement that he was ready to hand over to Pyongyang two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region.
It seems that what was originally claimed to be a "Western-made Radar System", is very likely to be a North Korean Tor SAM version on a cab chasis.
— WarVehicleTracker🇵🇱 ☧ (@WarVehicle) January 12, 2025
However its funny on one side that Russia would have hit their own SAM, maybe left in the dark about the arrival of them. https://t.co/5r0skT9C1r pic.twitter.com/hyWwBMYwQR