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Western officials have warned that such a development would
stoke the almost three-year war and bring geopolitical
consequences as far away as the Indo-Pacific region.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence had determined that “the
first North Korean military will be used by Russia in combat
zones” between Sunday and Monday.
He said on Telegram that the deployment was “an obvious
escalating move by Russia.” He didn’t provide any further
details, including where the North Korean soldiers may be sent.
Russia has been conducting a ferocious summer campaign along the
eastern front in Ukraine, gradually compelling Kyiv to surrender
ground. But Russia has struggled to push Ukrainian forces out of
its Kursk border region following an incursion almost three
months ago.
North Korean units were detected on Wednesday in Kursk,
according to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, known by
its acronym GUR.
The soldiers had undergone several weeks of training at bases in
eastern Russia and had been equipped with clothes for the
upcoming winter, GUR said in a statement late Thursday.
It estimated the number of North Korean soldiers sent by
Pyongyang to Russia at around 12,000, including some 500
officers and three generals.
GUR provided no evidence for its claims.
The deployment of North Korean forces under a military pact
between Moscow and Pyongyang brings a new dimension to the
conflict, which is Europe’s biggest war since World War II and
has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including
many civilians.
The U.S. said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops have been
deployed to Russia and are training at several locations,
calling the move very serious.
Zelenskyy said a week ago that his government has intelligence
information that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being
readied to join Russian forces fighting against his country. He
said that a third nation wading into the hostilities would turn
the conflict into a “world war.”
North Korea had already been supplying ammunition to Russia
under a defense pact, but putting boots on the ground could
severely complicate a war that has inflamed international
politics, with most Western countries supporting Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has looked for
support among BRICS countries.
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