Kyiv, Oct 18 (EFE).- Around 11,000 North Korean soldiers are receiving training in Russia to join its troops fighting against Ukraine in November, the Ukrainian military spy chief Kyrylo Budanov said.
(FILE) Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, attends the Forum ‘Ukraine. Year 2024’ in Kyiv, Ukraine, 25 February 2024. EFE-EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
“They will be ready [to fight in Ukraine] on Nov. 1,” Budanov said in an interview with specialized website The War Zone on Thursday.
According to Budanov, the soldiers are receiving training in eastern Russia and will use Russian equipment and ammunition.
The head of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) added that a first contingent of 2,600 North Korean soldiers will be deployed in the Kursk region, where Russia is trying to expel Ukrainian troops who took control of a part of this Russian region bordering Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other members of his administration and the armed forces have been warning for days that Russia is preparing to deploy thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight against Ukraine.
North Korea had so far supplied missiles to Russia, who has used them to attack Ukraine.
A few weeks ago, Kyiv reported the presence of North Korean officers in Russia-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, revealing that six of these soldiers had died in a Ukrainian attack on the Donetsk region.
Zelenskyy is urging his Western allies to step up their support for Ukraine and take all possible measures to prevent North Korea and Russia’s other allies such as Iran from entering the war to reinforce the Russian military. EFE
mg/pd