Just one year ago, the notion of North Korean troops on European soil would have smacked of dystopian fantasy; today it is a reality. The consensus from various reports suggests that at present there are 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, though Ukrainian intelligence, which has gained a reputation for accurate information, puts the figure slightly higher, at 12,000.
The initial assumption in Western defence ministries was that Vladimir Putin intended to use North Koreans as cannon fodder, a role which they have historical experience of fulfilling. During the Korean War, both North Korean and Chinese communist troops attacked in human waves. The equation was simple: calculate how many machine guns were deployed on the UN front line, and the number of bullets they were capable of firing during the period of time it would take a wave of Red troops to reach the enemy trenches, then send in more men than the maximum estimate of casualties. Job done.