EDF colonel: North Korean artillery has reached the front line

Russia has begun using North Korean artillery systems on the front line in Ukraine, said Col. Ants Kiviselg, head of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) Intelligence Center. According to the EDF colonel, this indicates the increasingly critical state of Russia's indirect fire capabilities as well as its dependence on imported weapons.
Speaking at Friday's weekly Ministry of Defense press briefing, Col. Kiviselg said that over the past week, Russian Federation forces holding the tactical initiative on the ground.
While Russia has been able to assert its military potential slightly more from a tactical perspective, it has not been able to consolidate a position of complete superiority that would enable it to make a diplomatic show of force. "Therefore, we see that the Russian Federation is not interested in ceasing hostilities at this time and will continue to pursue its offensive actions," Col. Kiviselg said.
The main fighting over the past week has taken place in Donetsk Oblast in the direction of Pokrovsk, where Russian Federation forces have been trying to continue to putting pressure on the Pokrovsk settlement from both the south and east.
Although the pace of Russian troop advances has slowed, the offensive pressure remains high, with an average of 164 attacks per day across the front.
"Russia appears keen to take advantage of the crisp winter weather, which allows it to use the frozen terrain to move armored vehicles. However, up to now, the winter in Ukraine has been relatively mild and has therefore channeled a significant amount of armored vehicle movement onto the roads. This has made it easier for Ukrainian firing units to repel attacks," Col. Kiviselg said.
During the past week, Russian units have managed to make marginal advances in the area around Velyka Novosilka, Toretsk, Chasiv Yar and the Kupiansk direction.
In Russia's Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian units have withdrawn to positions where they were before launching further attacks on January 5. "During the last week there have been minor attacks from the Ukrainian side in Kursk Oblast. Certain settlements or areas are moving back and forth."
Nor has the rotation of North Korean units operating in Kursk Oblast brought any significant benefits for Russia. "Last week, there was a rotation of North Korean units among themselves, whereby units in the rear were redirected toward the offensive. There have been no significant advances from the Russian side," Col. Kiviselg said.
The EDF colonel also the appearance of North Korean artillery systems in Russian units on the front line. "This demonstrates Russia's increasingly critical situation regarding indirect fire capabilities and its dependence on imported weapons," he added.
Col. Kiviselg also noted that Ukraine's rapidly adapting and increasingly capable defense capabilities have already withstood massive offensive pressure from the enemy and are gradually beginning to erode the offensive capabilities of the opponent's ground forces.
At the same time, Ukraine has continued to launch strikes deep inside Russia against its critical infrastructure. "For example, throughout the past week, Ukraine has been launching an increasing number of deep strikes against Russian fuel and chemical plants."
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, on the morning of January 14, Ukraine carried out one of its largest strikes so far against objects on Russian territory. The targets hit were between 200 and 1,100 kilometers inside Russia – in Bryansk, Saratov, Tula Oblast and the Republic of Tatarstan.
During the attack, the Aleksinsky Chemical Plant in Tula Oblast, which produces ammunition, gunpowder and materials for the Russian military-industrial complex, was hit. Ammunition depots at the Engels airfield in Saratov Oblast were also hit, as was the Saratov oil refinery, with a large fire recorded there after the attack.
Ukraine carried out a repeat attack on the oil storage base at Engels. The previous attack there took place on January 8 with the oil base only extinguished a day before it was hit again.
On the night of January 15, the Russian Air force Attacked Ukraine using six Tu-95MS bombers and eight Tu-22M3 bombers which took off from Olenogorsk airfield in Murmansk Oblast.
The main targets on Ukrainian territory were energy infrastructure and military installations. The attack used cruise missiles, attack drones and ballistic missiles. According to the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) Intelligence Center, 43 missiles and 74 drones were fired at Ukraine. Ukraine shot down 30 of those missiles and 47 drones, while 27 drones deviated from their intended course.
Col. Kiviselg said that both sides are primarily trying to undermine the economic potential of the other in order to influence the outcome of the war.
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Editor: Valner Väino, Michael Cole