The conflict in eastern-Europe reached a new milestone when Rustem Umerov confirmed the first-ever small-scale encounter between Ukrainian and North Korean forces. The defense minister told South-Korean TV that this short-lived clash wasnt systematic but marked a significant shift in the two-year-old war
Intelligence data shows that Moscow deployed about 10000 North-Korean soldiers to its territory (with many of them stationed in the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces made a push last summer). The Russians are trying to pass-off these foreign troops as Buryats; an ethnic group from Siberia
Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed his thoughts about this development in his regular video message:
The first battles with North Korean troops open a new page of instability in the world
The training period for North-Korean soldiers got cut down from one month to just 1-2 weeks — showing Moscows rush to get them to front-lines. While Russia hasnt officially confirmed their presence Vladimir Putin didnt deny it during his speech last week saying its up to Russia how to use its defense agreement with Pyongyang
- South-Korean defense ministry spotted North-Korean units in multiple front areas
- The Pentagon confirmed troop numbers but couldnt verify combat involvement
- Ukraineʼs intelligence reported 11000 North-Korean personnel on Russian soil
The global community is now preparing concrete steps to support Ukraineʼs defense efforts against this new threat that emerged just weeks ago