The head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, has said that about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen are currently undergoing training in eastern Russia.
According to the Ukrainian intelligence chief, they will be ready to participate in combat operations against Ukraine as early as 1 November.
Budanov noted that the North Korean troops will be using Russian equipment and ammunition. The first cadre of 2,600 soldiers will go to the Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine has established a heavily fought-over foothold.
It is unclear where the remaining North Korean troops will go, Budanov added. “We don’t have the full picture right now.”
Sending North Korean troops to the Kursk Oblast would give the Kremlin the possibility to send its own units to different areas of the front or increase offensive operations while North Korean troops defend the rear and border-areas from Ukrainian flanking maneuvers.
Earlier in October, The Washington Post reported on the basis of an anonymous Ukrainian military intelligence officer that “several thousand” North Korean infantry soldiers are currently training in Russia and could be deployed to Ukraine by year’s end.
The official added that North Korean officers are already present in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to observe and study the battlefield.
Other reports surfaced, suggesting North Korean military officials may have been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike near Donetsk City, potentially indicating a deeper level of foreign involvement on the Russian side in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said in Seoul that Washington and its allies are alarmed by North Korea’s military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine but couldn’t confirm Ukrainian claims that North Korean soldiers were sent to fight for Moscow.
Meanwhile, by deploying troops to Ukraine, North Korea may lead South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol government to rethink its policy of not providing direct military support to Ukraine, an expert said.
“I would imagine, it would make President Yoon very upset, and who knows what he’s going to do if he’s really upset?” the expert wondered.
Related:
- Blinken: US must halt Russia’s military cooperation with Iran, North Korea, and China
- WP: thousands of North Korean troops train in Russia for potential Ukraine deployment
- North Korean officers killed in missile strike in Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian intel sources say
- North Korea announces increase of 1.4 million personnel in its army
- ISW: North Korean military aid could allow Putin to avoid mobilization
- US official: North Korean troops in Ukraine would show Russian “desperation”
