The Pentagon has confirmed that North Korea has sent 10,000 troops to Russia and the majority of them have been deployed to the Kursk region and are taking part in combat against Ukrainian forces.
This is an unprecedented escalation of Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine sending North Korean troops to fight on European soil.
Pentagon spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Wednesday, “Today I can confirm that over 10,000 (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces.
“Russian forces have trained the (North Korean) soldiers in artillery, in UAV and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, which are critical skills for front-line operations.”
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The effectiveness of the North Korean soldiers will “in large part be dictated by how well the Russians can integrate them into their military,” Patel said.
Putin is also massing troops in southern Ukraine in defiance to Donald Trump’s warning in what could be another fresh offensive.
A Ukrainian military spokesman said on Monday that Russian infantry groups are expected to launch a ground offensive in southern Zaporizhzhia in the coming days.
“(The assaults) could begin in the near future, we’re not even talking about weeks, we’re expecting it to happen any day,” said Vladyslav Voloshyn.
Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay has said that Russia is currently “in the ascendancy” warning Ukrainian forces are “in quite a lot of trouble.”
Putin has deployed 50,000 troops to kill and push out Ukrainian forces from the Kursk Oblast region inside Russia.
Ramsay said, “Russia is definitely in the ascendancy.
“I would say at the moment the Ukrainian army is in quite a lot of trouble. Morale is always quite good with the soldiers because they know they have to fight, and they’re determined to do so.
“But of course, like everyone here, they’re looking at what happened in the United States and the results of this election and what is going to happen next… that really is the key to everything that happens in the future.”
He then said on Sky News that if Kyiv has no US support then Ukraine “just simply can’t continue.”
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