(Kyiv) Ukrainian troops for the first time clashed with North Korean units recently deployed to help Russia in the war with its neighbor, Ukraine’s defense minister said Tuesday.
Posted at 1:36 p.m.
Illia Novikov
Associated Press
Another official in Kyiv added that Ukrainian artillery reportedly fired on North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region.
The comments are the first official reports that Ukrainian and North Korean forces have engaged in combat, following a deployment that gave the war a new twist as it approaches its 1,000-day milestone.
None of these claims could be independently confirmed.
Ukrainian and North Korean troops engaged in “small-scale” fighting that marked the start of Pyongyang’s direct involvement in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem said Umerov, in an interview with South Korean public radio KBS.
North Korean soldiers are integrated into Russian troops and are poorly identified on their uniforms, Minister Umerov explained, quoted by KBS. That makes it difficult to say whether there were any North Korean casualties, he said.
Mr. Umerov reportedly said he expected five North Korean units, each consisting of around 3,000 troops, to be deployed to the Kursk region.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation section of the Ukrainian Security Council, said that “the first North Korean troops have already been bombed, in the Kursk region.” He provided no further details.
Western governments had expected North Korean soldiers to be deployed to Russia’s Kursk border region, where a three-month-old Ukrainian army incursion marks the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II. world – and embarrassed the Kremlin.
Intelligence assessments from the United States, South Korea and Ukraine indicate that up to 12,000 North Korean troops are being sent by Pyongyang as part of a pact with Moscow.
The Pentagon said Monday that at least 10,000 North Korean troops were in Russia near the Ukrainian border.
A first in generations
More troops from North Korea’s 1.3 million-strong army could be deployed to Russia, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the European Council on International Relations.
The repercussions extend well beyond Europe, according to the think tank’s analysis. “Despite integration challenges – including communication barriers and differing military doctrines – the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia represents a significant shift in European and Asian security relations,” the analysis said.
“For the first time in generations, East Asian troops are actively participating in a European conflict. »
North Korean troops, whose quality and combat experience are unknown, contribute to the deterioration of Ukraine’s situation on the battlefield.
Ukraine’s defenses, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region, are buckling under the pressure of Russia’s costly but relentless months-long assault.
Russian advances have accelerated recently, with battlefield gains of up to 9 kilometers in parts of Donetsk, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Platform X on Tuesday.
London believes that Russia has a superior number of soldiers and that, despite heavy losses, the Kremlin’s recruitment campaign is providing enough new troops to maintain pressure.
Moscow has had battlefield initiative in Ukraine since last year. Ukrainian officials have long complained that Western military support is taking too long to arrive in the country.
In early October, Russian forces drove Ukrainian troops from Vuhledar, a tactically important hilltop town in eastern Ukraine. It was part of a key belt of Ukraine’s defenses in the east. Russia’s next targets are likely to be the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk and the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar.
In the meantime, Russia has maintained its long-range air attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine, according to authorities.
