North Korean troops have already been deployed to the Kursk region of Russia, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said after a meeting with a senior South Korean intelligence official.
The Secretary General also announced upcoming conversations with South Korean President Yun Seok-yol and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov . According to Rutte, the deployment of North Korean troops allegedly marks a "significant escalation" and a "dangerous expansion" of the conflict. NATO continues to closely monitor the situation, the Secretary General concluded.
A Ukrainian and two American officials earlier told The NYT that DPRK troops were allegedly to take part in the upcoming counteroffensive of the Russian Armed Forces. The sources could not specify what role the North Korean military might play. Yet, Russia will thus be able to keep more of its forces in eastern Ukraine in order to advance there before the onset of cold weather.
NYT sources claim that the North Korean troops first arrived in Vladivostok by sea. Afterwards, where they were allegedly flown to a military airfield in western Russia before being deployed to the combat zone.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that North Korean soldiers will appear on the battlefield "in the coming days." "Ukraine will be forced to actually fight against North Korea in Europe," the Ukrainian president said.
Western officials claimed afterwards that NATO could send its troops to Ukraine in response to the deployment of North Korean military men in the zone of hostilities. When asked to comment on such allegations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Western troops were already in Ukraine, including as instructors and mercenaries.
"This has already happened [the transfer of Western troops to Ukraine]. The President [of Russia Vladimir Putin] has repeatedly referred to specific data indicating that Western troops were fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There are mercenaries, there are so-called volunteers, and there are also actual instructors, without whom it is impossible to use both Western and Ukrainian long-range weapons <…>. Western troops have been operating in Ukraine for a long time. This is part of NATO's hybrid war, part of EU's hybrid war against our country, and we know this very well,” the minister said.
Speaking about cooperation between Russia and the DPRK, Lavrov emphasized that the strategic treaty concluded between the countries was not a secret agreement. On the contrary, this is an open agreement that in no way violates the provisions of international law.
"Such deceitful statements about us sending troops to Ukraine under some pretext are probably just an attempt to retroactively justify what has been happening for a long time," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.