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Zelensky warns 10,000 North Korean troops preparing to join Russian forces

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky his government has intelligence information that 10,000 North Korean troops are preparing to join Russian forces in the fight against his country.

Zelensky, speaking at a press conference with new Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, described the deployment as a ā€œfirst step to the world warā€.

The Ukrainian president said that the North Korean troops include infantry, land forces and ā€œother technical personnelā€.

ā€œFrom our intelligence, weā€™ve got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine on temporary occupied territories, and they are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers, but they didnā€™t move them already to Ukraine or to Russia,ā€ Mr Zelenskyy said.

Mr Rutte said the allies ā€œhave no evidence that North Korean soldiers are involved in the fightā€.

He continued: ā€œBut we do know that North Korea is supporting Russia in many ways, weapons supplies, technological supplies, innovation, to support them in the war effort. And that is highly worrying.ā€

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on October 4, 2024, shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the 82nd Air Assault Brigade at an undisclosed location in the Sumy region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 4, 2024 he had visited the Sumy region and met soldiers fighting in the offensive across the border in Russia's Kursk region. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP) / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by HANDOUT/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is concerned about the risk of deployment of North Korean troops to Russia (Photo: Ukrainian presidential press service/AFP/Getty)

Pyongyang has already provided large amounts of defence material including artillery shells and ballistic missiles to Russia during the war, but the deployment of combat soldiers would be a drastic escalation of support.

The move would reflect an infantry war of attrition that is testing Russiaā€™s ability to replenish fallen soldiers with competent replacements.

On 7 October the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) issued an assessment of the war that estimated that Russia lost, on average, 1,271, soldiers each day during September. Itā€™s the highest estimated monthly casualty rate of the war, well above September 2023ā€™s daily estimated casualty rate of 500.

ā€œRussiaā€™s casualty rate will likely continue to average above 1000 a day for the rest of 2024,ā€ the statement read.

It noted that the increase in casualty rate is ā€œalmost certainly due to the extension of the combat zone to include both Kharkiv and Kursk military operations.ā€

The MOD assessed that ā€œsince the start of the conflict Russia had likely suffered 648,000 casualtiesā€. Itā€™s believed that Ukraine has suffered roughly half that number of casualties.

On Thursday head of the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told military blog The War Zone that he had intelligence indicating that about 11,000 North Korean soldiers were already training in Russia, and that the first 2,600 North Korean soldiers will soon be sent to the Kursk region of Russia, where Ukrainian forces hold territory.

Earlier this week White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters: ā€œThis idea of North Korean soldiers fighting on behalf of Russia, we believe, if true, would mark a significant increase in the DPRK and the Russia defense relationship.ā€

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