Voldymyr Zelensky claims North Korea is preparing 10,000 soldiers to join Russia’s invasion war against Ukraine described it as “the first step to a world war”, according to Ukrainian media.
The Ukrainian President made the comments during a press conference in Brussels on Thursday, and claimed that Russia is planning to train and engage infantry as well as North Korean specialists in various branches of the military, The Kyiv Independent reports.
Days earlier the outlet had reported that 10,000 North Korean troops had been sent to Russia, citing a Western diplomat.
And on Wednesday, the BBC reported that Russia was forming a unit of some 3,000 North Korean fighters, as per a Ukrainian military intelligence source.
Zelensky, said the Kremlin plans to “actually involve” Pyongyang in the war in the months ahead.
“We know about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea they are preparing to send to fight against us,” he told .
In remarks quoted by the outlet, Zelensky said the participation of Pyongyang in Russia’s aggression in Ukraine “is the first step to a World War.”
The war-time leader said according to military intelligence some North Korean officers are already in the occupied territories of Ukraine and joined the Russian army, though it’s not known how many.
Russia has deepened its ties with North Korea of late, as Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, dragged and sanctions from Western allies of Kyiv began to bite.
Putin and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un have visited each others respective nations in high-profile summits since the war began, and Pyongyang is alleged to have helped supply Russia’s army with ammunition as it struggles to break down Ukraine’s stubborn defenses.
North Korea has reportedly been providing Russia’s forces with ballistic missiles and large amounts of artillery shells, which the Kremlin denies.
This week, Russia said a mutual defence treaty it signed with the hermit state earlier this year was “unambiguous” and provides for “strategic cooperation” in all areas, but wasn’t forthcoming about how a mutual defence clause in the aggreement might be put into practice, Reuters reports.
Another ally of Russia, Iran is one of Moscows key military backers and has “transferred hundreds of drones to Russia for use in its war of aggression in Ukraine since August 2022”, according to the British government.
“Iran gave (Russia) drones, license to produce these drones and missiles. But not people, not officially. And here we see this first step in this war,” Zelensky said in his remarks today.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected reports of a North Korean military unit, saying: “This is not only British intelligence, it is also American intelligence. They report it all the time, they don’t provide any evidence,” as per BBC News.
A military source in Russia’s Far East told BBC Russian that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” and were stationed in of the the army bases near Ussuriysk, to the north of Vladivostok.
But they didn’t give a precise number of how many were in the country, saying only that they were “absolutely nowhere near 3,000”.
On Wednesday, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it was closely monitoring for signs of North Korean personnel being deployed.
