According to Kiev, around 11,000 North Korean soldiers have already arrived in the Russian border region of Kursk on Monday, fearing that they will be deployed in Ukraine.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of North Koreans, but we are not seeing an increase in the response from our partners. Unfortunately,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening video message.
He said the information was based on findings by Ukrainian intelligence services.
Kiev assumes that the North Korean soldiers will soon be deployed by Russia against Ukraine, although UN diplomats have also said they could be deployed behind the front line to perform logistics tasks, for example.
It remains unclear whether the North Korean soldiers could be deployed to fight on Ukrainian territory or in Ukrainian-occupied areas of Russia, including parts of Kursk.
Zelensky described the Ukrainian advance on Kursk, which began in August, as a success. He said a “protection zone” had been created along the Russian-Ukrainian border and new Russian prisoners had been taken for possible future exchanges.
During the invasion, Ukrainian forces captured much of Russia, apparently hoping that the Russians would divert troops from the eastern front in Donetsk and Luhansk.
“This has greatly helped in the liberation of our people from Russian captivity,” Zelensky said.
Western countries have described the deployment of North Korean soldiers in Russia as a massive escalation of the conflict.
It comes as observers say the Ukrainian military is suffering increasing losses of life and equipment during its operations on Russian territory.
Putin welcomes the North Korean minister
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui at the Kremlin for talks.
“Today is a national holiday for us, and meeting good friends on holidays is a good tradition,” Putin said in greeting. The Kremlin has not released any details about their conversation.
North Korea supports Moscow in Russia’s war against Ukraine, which started in 2022. Choe was last a guest at the Kremlin in January.
On Friday, Choe told her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that North Korea would help Russia in the war until victory.
On Monday, she conveyed greetings from ruler Kim Jong Un to Putin. North Korea is internationally isolated because of its nuclear weapons tests. North Korea has also been widely criticized for supplying weapons to Russia. Russia, in turn, is subject to sanctions over its war against Ukraine.
Putin and Kim signed a treaty on a strategic partnership between the two countries during a visit to North Korea this summer, which also provides for mutual military assistance. The Russian president recently said the details of the deal still need to be clarified.
