North Korea to send up to 30,000 troops to bolster Russia's forces, Ukraine says

North Korea is set to double the number of troops fighting for Russia along the front lines with up to 30,000 more soldiers to assist Moscow, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

An emboldened Russia has ramped up military offensives on two fronts, scattering Kyiv’s precious reserve troops and threatening to expand the fighting to a new Ukrainian region as each side seeks an advantage before the fighting season wanes in the autumn. And it appears as though Vladimir Putin troops will be bolstered by help from their neighbour.

Around 11,000 North Koreans were sent in November who helped repel Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, followed by a further 4,000 this year. As many as 4,000 of those North Korean soldiers have been killed or injured in action, according to Western officials, yet Kim Jong-un is continuing to build a closer relationship with Russia.

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The Ukrainian intelligence assessment on more soldiers being sent by North Korea to the front says “there is a great possibility” the North Korean troops will be engaged in combat in parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine “to strengthen the Russian contingent, including during the large-scale offensive operations.”

It tells of how Russia is capable of providing “needed equipment, weapons and ammunition” with the aim of “further integration to Russian combat units,” reported CNN.

While Ukrainian intelligence also is also understood to have evidence that Russian military aircraft are being refitted to carry soldiers, which would be in line with the need to bring tens of thousands of army personnel. Similarly a ship which was used for the transporting of North Korean soldiers last year has also been moved to a Russian port.

And North Korea’s planned dispatch of thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region will likely take place as early as July or August, said South Korea’s spy agency.

After a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang last month, top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu said Kim decided to send 1,000 sappers and 5,000 military construction workers to help rebuild the war-torn area.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that the dispatch of those 6,000 additional military personnel will likely come as early as July or August, according to Lee Seong Kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.

In April, Pyongyang and Moscow confirmed that their soldiers fought together to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region. The two countries haven’t officially disclosed how many North Koreans soldiers have been deployed in Russia, but South Korea, US and Ukraine officials said North Korea sent about 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia last autumn. South Korea said North Korea deployed about 3,000-4,000 additional soldiers to Russia earlier this year.

In return for North Korea’s supply of troops and weapons, Russia is believed to have given North Korea military and economic assistance. South Korea, the US and their allies are concerned that Russia could even transfer sensitive technologies that can enhance North Korea’s nuclear programme.