Ukraine releases video of North Korean soldiers preparing for Putin’s war

North Korean soldiers are training at a Russian military camp before joining Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, according to the Ukrainian government which has released a video it says supports its claims.

Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security has released images following comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that around 10,000 North Korean troops are being trained to join the Russian army.

A video published Friday by Ukrainian media purports to show North Korean personnel at the Sergeyevsky training ground in Russia’s Far East region of Primorye, queuing for equipment.

The video has not been independently verified and News week contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said the first group of 2,600 troops would be deployed to Russia’s Kursk oblast, where Ukraine staged an incursion in August, and that about 11,000 troops from the North- Koreans would be “ready to fight” in Ukraine by the beginning of next month. .

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Friday that Pyongyang sent 1,500 troops from North Korea’s Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan to Vladivostok between Oct. 8 and 13 and that a second batch would be sent soon.

The NIS released satellite images from a Russian ship near North Korea showing personnel gathered at Russian military facilities in Ussuryisk and Khabarovsk.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington DC-based think tank, said Ukrainian and Russian sources backed up the intelligence reports and that the images “appear consistent with reports of the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia, but do not independently validate these claims.

Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan said Pyongyang’s alleged involvement raised questions about whether an additional belligerent should change US and NATO policy in this war .

In a Substack article published Saturday, Ryan argued that the United States and NATO should at least provide air and missile defense over Ukraine “like Western countries do for Israel.”

“This is a significant escalation of the war by Russia,” Ryan wrote. “If Putin can bring in North Korean troops and NATO stays away, it confirms that the United States and its allies are more concerned about Russia’s defeat than Ukraine’s defeat. would constitute a considerable strategic and moral failure on the part of the West.”

At the same time, there has been controversy over whether Pyongyang’s alleged involvement in the war violated a “red line” for the United States and NATO. letter from U.S. Rep. Mike Turner to President Joe Biden demanding answers.

The Ohio Republican said such troop movements “are alarming” and require an “immediate response from the United States and our NATO allies to avoid an expansion of the conflict.”

News week also contacted the US State Department and NATO for comment.