First North Korean troops reach Russian combat zone, Kyiv reports

The first North Korean military units trained in eastern Russia have arrived in the combat zone, Kyiv reported on Thursday.

North Korean soldiers were already spotted in Russia's border region of Kursk on Wednesday, The Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Directorate of Intelligence said.

According to Ukrainian authorities, Pyongyang troops arriving in Russia are being trained at five military training grounds located in the country's east.

The soldiers whom Russia intends to use in the war against Ukraine are given several weeks of training before their deployment.

The number of North Korean troops stationed in Russia currently totals around 12,000, including 500 officers as well as three generals, according to Ukrainian intelligence information.

Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has reportedly been assigned the task of overseeing the training of North Korean troops.

Pyongyang is supplying the soldiers with ammunition, bedding, winter clothing and footwear, and hygiene products. Moscow is also providing each North Korean soldier with standard rations of 50 metres of toilet paper and 300 grams of soap each month, authorities claim.

Ukrainian intelligence believes that the Kremlin has high hopes for North Korean reinforcements in its war against Ukraine.

The authorities in Kyiv, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have repeatedly warned that Pyongyang is sending its troops to get involved in the fighting. South Korea and the US have also previously warned of the impending deployment of North Korean troops to the Ukrainian front.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a press conference following the BRICS summit in Kazan, commented for the first time on reports about the presence of soldiers from North Korea in