Ukraine warns 11,000 North Korean troops ‘ready to fight’ alongside Russia

Ukrainian officials believe 11,000 North Korean troops are ready to be deployed to aid Russia’s ongoing war efforts.

Concerns North Korea is gearing up to join Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reached a fever pitch on Saturday, with the Ukrainian military intelligence boss warning that 11,000 of the Hermit Kingdom’s troops stationed in the Kremlin are “ready to fight.”

As many as 2600 North Korean soldiers will be deployed by November 1 to Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine holds a significant chunk of territory after a successful incursion began in August, said Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said.

“They will be ready on Nov. 1,” Mr Budanov told The War Zone, a news outlet that covers the defence industry.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un (front) and his daughter posing with soldiers. Picture: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP

The North Korean troops would be using Russian equipment and ammunition, but further information is currently unknown.

A video released by Ukrainian officials on Saturday purportedly shows dozens of North Korean soldiers standing in line to pick up bags, clothes and other apparel from Russian servicemen.

“We received this video from our own sources. We cannot provide additional verification from the sources who provided it to us due to security concerns,” said Ihor Solovey, head of Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

“The video clearly shows North Korean citizens being given Russian uniforms under the direction of the Russian military … For Ukraine, this video is important because it is the first video evidence that shows North Korea participating in the war on the side of Russia.

“Now not only with weapons and shells but also with personnel.”

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot visited Kyiv this week. Picture: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP

The involvement of North Korean troops marks is “huge” escalation of the Eastern-European conflict, France and Ukraine’s foreign ministers said at a joint press conference in Kyiv on Saturday.

“It would be serious and push the conflict into a new stage, an additional escalatory stage,” France’s Jean-Noel Barrot said in Kyiv, adding that such a move would signal that Moscow was struggling in the war.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha added: “This is a huge threat of further escalation of Russian aggression against Ukraine. There is a big risk of it growing out of its current scale and borders.”

Russia's President Vladimir Putin with Kim Jong-un, who has offered his "full support" on Ukraine. Picture: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP

The shocking potential escalation comes just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raised initial alarm bells that some 10,000 North Korean troops were joining Moscow’s full-scale push to seize more land this autumn.

Russia has denied accusations that North Korean troops had been flown into the European country – with both countries dismissing claims they have engaged in arms transfers.

NATO chief Mark Rutte also said there was no evidence of Pyongyang’s presence at this stage.

New Ukranian recruits at a training field at an undisclosed location in Donetsk region. Picture: 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces/AFP

US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner insisted on Friday that North Korean participation in Ukraine would be crossing a “red line” and if true, the troop movements “require an immediate response from the United States and our NATO allies to avoid a widening conflict,” he wrote in a letter to the White House.

He also asked for more information, noting that lawmakers have not been briefed on the matter.

Separately, Ukrainian drones hit a Russian electronics plant used to manufacture weapons on Saturday and 180 prisoners were exchanged in a surprise swap on Friday, the Kyiv Independent reported.

This story was originally published by the New York Post and was reproduced with permission