North Korea sends three army generals to the Russian front: Ukraine

North Korea plans to send generals to support Russian forces in their war against Ukraine, Kiev said.

About 500 officers, including three generals, will be among the 12,000 North Korean troops expected to be stationed in Russia, Ukrainian defense intelligence wrote in a statement on Telegram on Thursday. The authority did not provide any information about the basis for this claim.

The claim came a day after the US determined that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers were already in the country. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters in Rome that if Moscow and Pyongyang were “comrades in arms,” ​​it would be “a very, very serious problem.”

North Korea has denied having troops on the ground for its ally, which was first claimed by South Korean sources last week. The Kremlin has played down the reports and stressed that its dealings with North Korea are within the framework of international law.

Newsweek contacted the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and the North Korean Embassy in China for comment via email.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, North Koreans are undergoing “several weeks” of training at five training areas in the Russian Far East.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has been tasked with overseeing the acclimatization and training of the North Korean arrivals, who will reportedly be provided with winter clothing, bedding, ammunition and toiletries.

The Ukrainian statement said that the first North Korean units had already reached the front lines in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have been conducting a counteroffensive since early August and Russian forces have fallen behind.

About 2,000 soldiers are reportedly being deployed in western Russia near the Ukrainian border, Japanese newspaper Kyodo News reported on Thursday, citing Ukrainian military intelligence.

At least some North Korean troops were reported to have been involved in combat operations earlier this week. A Chinese mercenary claimed on social media that eight North Korean soldiers were killed shortly after joining the fighting. Last week, Ukrainian media quoted intelligence officials as saying that Russia was searching for at least 18 suspected North Korean deserters.

On Thursday, Russian lawmakers ratified the military agreement reached between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his state visit to Pyongyang in June. The pact, the first of its kind since the Cold War, requires both nations to provide “all means” of military assistance in the event of an attack.

The deal has further heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula as South Korea considers the possibility of directly supplying Ukraine with offensive equipment. Seoul has reiterated this stance since news of the North Korean operations broke.