President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warned on October 25 that Russia was planning to deploy North Korean soldiers to the Ukrainian battlefield, scheduled to start from October 27-28. This information was cited by him. from intelligence sources, marking a serious escalation in the current conflict. However, Zelenskyy did not reveal details about which war zone the North Korean soldiers would be sent to.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence reports, the first units of North Korean soldiers have appeared in Russia’s Kursk border area. This is where the Ukrainian army has been operating since launching a large-scale counteroffensive in August. There are about 12,000 North Korean soldiers present in Russia, including 500 officers and 3 generals. Currently these forces are being trained at 5 different military bases.
Not only Ukraine, the United States has also recorded the presence of North Korean troops in Russia. Some South Korean lawmakers say about 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to support Russia in the conflict and that number is expected to increase. Washington and Western countries consider this a major escalation if North Korea participates directly in the war.
On Russia’s side, President Vladimir Putin has confirmed the cooperative relationship with North Korea. In his October 24 statement, he emphasized that implementing the terms of the treaty with Pyongyang is Moscow’s internal matter. This treaty included a commitment to mutual assistance in the event of external aggression. Although Putin did not deny the presence of North Korean troops in Russia, he also did not provide more specific information.
Reactions from the West and Ukraine’s allies have expressed concern at news of North Korea’s involvement in the conflict. They see this as a new development that could increase tensions and expand the scale of war. President Zelenskyy emphasized that simply condemning is not enough, but there needs to be clear pressure measures on both Moscow and Pyongyang to stop this action.
On the same day, Ukrainian prosecutors opened an investigation to clarify North Korea’s support for Russia, considering this a violation of international law and can be considered a crime of aggression. This shows that Ukraine is trying to find legal and diplomatic measures to deal with North Korea’s increasingly obvious involvement in the conflict.