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Russia is training North Korean troops in the use of combat drones, a Ukrainian official told BI.
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Andrii Kovalenko told BI that the new combat skills “pose a threat to both Ukraine and South Korea.”
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Ukraine claims 11,000 North Korean soldiers are now fighting alongside Russia in Kursk.
Russia is now training North Koreans in drone operations and other modern war techniques, a Ukrainian official told Business Insider.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, said in a statement to BI that “Russia is training North Korean soldiers to fly attack UAVs and reconnaissance drones.”
There are also plans to send Russian FPV drone instructors to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, for further training opportunities, he said.
In a post earlier this week on X, Kovalenko said the troops were also receiving training in the use of Lancet drones.
This training, which takes place under live combat conditions, “poses a threat to both Ukraine and South Korea as some of these soldiers will transfer their skills back to North Korea,” he told BI.
Business Insider could not independently confirm his statements.
Kovalenko’s comments come as Ukraine calls on its international allies to respond more forcefully to North Korean forces joining forces with Russia.
Kovalenko said that once back in North Korea, those who received the training could use their skills “for future terrorist actions in the border areas with South Korea.”
Late last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said said that there had been up to 8,000 North Korean troops moved to the Russian Kursk region, and he predicted that they would soon join the battle.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy increased that number to 11,000, saying: “We are seeing an increase in the number of North Koreans, and we are not seeing an increase in the response of our partners,” according to the Kyiv Independent.
Experts have told BI that the direct combat experience North Korean troops will gain in the fight against Ukraine is a huge boon for the secretive state, which has not seen major fighting since the 1950s.
Kovalenko said on Monday that the first North Korean troops were already under fire in Kursk.
In his comments to BI, he said there have been “daily battles” with North Korean forces since then, with Ukraine regularly shelling their positions.
South Korea recently said it is considering sending weapons to Ukraine, a move that experts said could be a significant help to BI – but which the country has long been reluctant to do.
In October, Kim Jong Un amended North Korea’s constitution to redefine its southern neighbor as an “enemy state” and blew up roads connecting the two areas.
The increase in hostilities comes as ties between Moscow and Pyongyang deepened following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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