North Korea is sending around 10,000 troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russian forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.
Zelensky, speaking at a press conference in Brussels said North Korea has already sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine and is “preparing” to send 10,000 soldiers.
“But they didn’t move them to Ukraine or to Russia,” Zelensky said, adding Kyiv would share more information when it becomes available.
Zelensky spoke after meeting Thursday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the Western security alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
Rutte told reporters he discussed North Korea with Ukraine and that NATO was “very worried” about the situation, but he did not back Zelensky’s specific claims.
“We have no evidence that North Korean soldiers are involved in the fight,” he said. “But we do know that North Korea is supporting Russia in many ways, by weapons supplies, technological supplies, innovation. It’s highly worrying.”
The U.S. has also not confirmed that North Korean soldiers are fighting in Ukraine, and the Biden administration has said it is looking into the claims.
South Korea’s spy agency said Friday that North Korea is preparing to send four brigades, around 12,000 troops, to Ukraine, according to Yonhap News Agency.
North Korea has long supplied Russia with artillery shells and short-range ballistic missiles in return for access to critical technology and financial aid.
But the cooperation deepened this year after Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to North Korea in a rare trip in June. Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to a mutual defense treaty that includes defending each other in the event of an armed attack.
……..
- Discussion
-
North Korea sending 10K troops to fight with Russia, Ukrainian President Zelensky says https://t.co/PjQhw1zNNZ
— The Hill (@thehill) October 18, 2024From a 3-day war to Russia relying on North Korean cannon fodder.
Let's finally wake TF up and give Ukraine the weapons (and permissions) needed to finish the job. https://t.co/eWaaFyIzcr
— Luke Coffey (@LukeDCoffey) October 18, 2024
Let me get this right: In Ukraine, Iran supplying missiles and drones, China supplying tech, North Korea supplying artillery and now soldiers to the fight.
This is the fight of our lives, and a Ukraine victory prevents war. if they lose, it will get messy. Slava Ukrainii
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) October 18, 2024
South Korean news agency confirms that 10k North Korean soldiers will be fighting against Ukraine https://t.co/cDoAiWS2yS
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) October 19, 2024
Translation: loser army plundered by kleptocrat calls in forces of a failed state that supports itself through cybercrime, with the approval of a dictatorship with a deflating economy. https://t.co/FfpNIgVCN0
— Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@ruthbenghiat) October 19, 2024
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.