NKorean Troops Spotted in Russia-Ukraine Combat Zone

(Getty Images)

The first North Korean military units trained in Russia have been deployed for the war against Ukraine to the Kursk region, a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August, The Hill reported Thursday night.

Ukrainian intelligence posted on its Telegram channel that it spotted the troops that had been trained at one of five military sites in east Russia.

“The first military units from the DPRK, which underwent training at the eastern Russian training grounds, have already arrived in the combat zone of the Russian-Ukrainian war,” read the post, translated in English. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

The U.S. on Wednesday confirmed that about 3,000 North Koreans are training at Russian military sites, The Hill reported. But the Telegram post stated Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense estimated a total of 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been transferred to Russia, including 500 officers and three generals.

“The soldiers sent by Pyongyang are equipped with ammunition, bedding, winter clothes and shoes, as well as hygiene,” the post stated. “In particular, Moscow will allocate 50 meters of toilet paper and 300 grams of soap per month to each North Korean, in accordance with established norms.

“The Kremlin has high hopes for a North Korean component in the war against Ukraine and the global confrontation with the West.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week said Pyongyang had sent tactical personnel and officers into Russian-occupied areas of his country, according to The Hill.

Moscow has previously dismissed reports about the deployment of North Korean troops as “fake news.” But Russian President Vladimir Putin did not deny claims that North Korea had sent troops to Russia, the Korean Times reported Friday.

Asked by a reporter about satellite imagery showing North Korean troop movements, Putin said, according to the Times: “Images are a serious thing. If there are images, then they reflect something.”

But he said NATO officers and instructors were directly involved with Ukraine in the war, and it was the West that escalated the crisis.

“We know who is present there, from which European NATO countries, and how they carry out this work,” Putin said, according to the Times.

Ties between Russia and North Korea grew deeper after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and they signed a comprehensive strategic partnership deal in June. North Korea reportedly had supplied ballistic missiles and ammunition rounds to Russia.