Ukraine are prepared to fight North Korean troops in the Russian region of Kursk as the entry of a second nuclear power in Russia’s war against Ukraine threatened to escalate and broaden the conflict.
The United States Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that North Korean troops were in Kursk, where Ukraine launched a counter-invasion almost three months ago.
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said there was “a small number [of North Korean troops] in the Kursk oblast, with a couple of thousand more that are almost there or due to arrive imminently”.
A senior South Korean official told reporters on Wednesday that about 3,000 North Korean troops were being moved close to the front lines.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirmed the deployment on Monday. “Today I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean army units are deployed to the Kursk region,” he told reporters.
Ryder confirmed that North Korea had sent a total of 10,000 troops for training in eastern Russia. South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence last week suggested the number could be as high as 12,000.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian ground forces commander, Oleksandr Pavlyuk said via Telegram on Sunday that an estimated 10,520 Russians were dead or wounded in the preceding week.
In Kursk alone, Russia had suffered 17,800 casualties over the past three months, Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskii said on Telegram, including 6,600 killed.
