North Korean troops have entered combat zone, Ukraine claims

“[Recruitment of foreign fighters] is a common trait of Russian warfare,” said Sam Cranny-Evans, associate fellow at Royal United Services Institute think tank. “If we look at their deployment to Syria, the Russian force footprint was quite small and they brought proxies from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon — as well as Wagner — to do a lot of the fighting. The same occurred in Ukraine in 2014-15, where they used the Luhansk and Donetsk militias more than their own forces. The Russians are broadly trying to spare the population the worst effects of the war through various means.”