According to the Estonian Defense Intelligence Center, there are currently up to 12,000 North Korean soldiers near Kursk on the Russian side. The center is currently unable to say what their precise role will be or what level of training they have. Previously, North Korean assistance to Russia had been limited to artillery shells.

"North Korea's assistance to Russia has [previously] been in the form of ammunition. It is known that Russia is not satisfied with the quality of the ammunition. But, as is usual in Russian military thinking, quantity is a quality in itself, and they seem to have plenty of that," said Lt. Col. Janek Kesselmann, deputy head of the Estonian Defense Intelligence Center.

Russia has found what it believes to be a suitable tactic to push forward in Ukraine: avoid urban fighting if possible, Lt. Col. Kesselmann said. Russia has few personnel trained to do this, he said. According to Lt. Col. Kesselmann, the Russian military is trying to encircle settlements and target them with indirect fire, bombing and drones. If this continues Pokrovsk could be in the hands of Russian troops by the New Year.

Col. Eero Rebo, chief of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) General Staff, said both Ukrainian and Russian troops were trying to hold favorable positions for the rainy season. Russia's aim, he said, is to push as far as the Polish border, but it currently lacks the capacity to do so.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation are not capable of making major breakthroughs today unless Ukrainian units are breached. And we do not know of a single Ukrainian brigade-sized unit that has been able to be broken during this war. This means (Russia) moving one meter at a time," Col. Rebo said.

According to Col. Rebo, both Ukraine and Russia are now awaiting the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Permission to use American weapons to hit military targets on Russian territory remains essential for Ukraine.

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