Some 50,000 Russian and North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia’s Kursk region have recently entered in combat against Ukrainian forcesa senior Ukrainian government official said on Tuesday. Kiev to the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
According to the unidentified source, “heavy fighting” has broken out on the front lines in which there have already been casualties among North Korean soldiersThis information is in line with what was announced on Tuesday by the United States, which has confirmed that North Korean troops have engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces.
Vedant Patel, deputy spokesman for the U.S. State Department, made that announcement amid growing concern in the West over North Korea’s troop deployment and its impact on Moscow’s protracted war in Ukraine.
“Today I can confirm that more than 10,000 North Korean troops have been sent to eastern Russia.and most of them have moved to the Kursk region, where they have begun to engage in combat operations with Russian forces,” Patel said.
These developments come a day after North Korea ratify its strategic partnership treaty with Russiawhich includes a mutual defense clause, North Korean state media reported Tuesday, and after Pyongyang sent troops to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to Ukraine and some of its allies, North Korea has already deployed some 11,000 troops in Russia.
Russia, which has so far neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops on its territory, claims that the treaty with the regime in Pyongyang is of a “defensive nature”. and is not directed against the security of third countries.”
In a recent report by the Russian agency TASS, the Russian president, Vladimir Putinmentioned the possibility of joint military exercises between the two countries, which would involve a further step in deepening their military cooperation.