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Key points
- President Volodymyr Zelensky claims North Korean officers have been deployed in Russian-occupied Ukraine.
- Ukraine says North Korea is preparing to send another 10,000 troops to fight on behalf of Russia.
- Ukraine has urged its allies to respond strongly by imposing more sanctions on North Korea.
Thousands of North Korean troops are being prepared to fight on behalf of Russia in Ukraine and some North Korean officers have already been deployed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The United States and other allies of Ukraine have long accused North Korea of sending weapons to Russia, and in recent days Zelenskyy has said North Korean personnel are also being sent.
“We have information from our intelligence that… some officers of the North Korean army are already on Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by Russia’s enemies. That is why they joined the Russian army,” Zelenskyy told a news conference in the Belgian capital Brussels.
He said he could not provide the exact number already on the ground.
“We know that about 10,000 North Korean soldiers are preparing to fight against us,” he said, describing it as “the first step towards world war.”
North Korean forces prepared to fight in Ukraine include land forces and “other technical personnel,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine’s allies have not yet backed Ukraine’s claim that North Korea is sending troops, although they say they are studying it.
White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said Tuesday that any involvement of North Korean troops in Ukraine, if true, would mark a significant increase in the defense relationship between North Korea and Russia.
Zelensky said Russia must fill the mobilization gap and cover its own personnel losses.
Ukraine and its allies say hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in fighting in Ukraine, while Ukraine’s own military losses – a closely guarded secret – are also high but smaller.
Russian troops have advanced in eastern Ukraine in recent months.
Ukraine has called on its allies to respond strongly to North Korea’s aid to Russia, including by imposing new sanctions and further isolating North Korea.
