Kim Jong-un’s soldiers are expected to arrive in Russia’s frontline region of Kursk today, in a worrying sign of the military cooperation between the two nations.
As many as 12,000 troops deployed from North Korea to fight for Vladimir Putinare set to pour into the southwestern border region, which has been partially occupied by Ukrainian forces since August.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR), confirmed that the army is preparing for the first units to arrive today.
How many will be deployed at once and what weapons they will be equipped with is still unclear.
‘We will see in a couple of days,’ Budanov told US website The War Zone.
For weeks, Ukraine has been pointing to reports that two brigades of 6,000 troops may soon join Russia to fight.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies on Tuesday ‘not to hide’, adding: ‘All of us in the world have an equal interest in ending the invasion, not in prolonging it. We must therefore stop Russia and its accomplices.
‘If North Korea can intervene in a war in Europe, then the pressure on this regime is definitely insufficient.’
British defence secretary John Healey told the House of Commons on Tuesday: ‘In a concerning new development, it is now highly likely that the transfer of hundreds of combat troops from North Korea to Russia has begun.’
Speaking minutes before, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty condemned what he called the ‘reported’ actions by the reclusive nation.
North Korea has denied sending brigades to join Russia’s war in Ukraine, calling the recent reports ‘groundless rumours,’ while the Kremlin branded these ‘fake news’.
Kim Jong-un and Putin agreed on a partnership at a summit in Pyongyang in June that included a mutual defence clause in case of ‘aggression’ against either of the two country.
Over the past year, there has also been evidence that North Korea has supplied weapons to Russia in exchange for military and economic support.
South Korea warned Tuesday it could consider supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to the dispatch of troops to Russia, in a move meant to pressure Russia.
In an emergency National Security Council meeting, top South Korean officials condemned this as ‘a grave security threat’ and described North Korea as ‘a criminal group’ that forces its youths to serve as Russian mercenaries for an unjustifiable war, South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement.
The officials agreed to take phased countermeasures, linking the level of their responses to progress in Russian-North Korean military cooperation, according to the statement.
Possible steps include diplomatic, economic and military options, and the nation could consider sending both defensive and offensive weapons to Ukraine, a senior South Korean presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity in a background briefing.
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