This article first appeared on Warrior Maven, a Military Content Group member website. 

 

There are multiple reports that North Korean troops are already in Russia, preparing to join Vladimir Putin’s forces in their fight against Ukraine.

Ukraine’s government has released a video that it says shows North Korean soldiers lining up to collect Russian military uniforms and other gear from Russian soldiers. According to CNN, that would seem to confirm a statement from South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), that 1,500 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia for training.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels that his intelligence sources say that 10,000 North Koreans are being readied for deployment to Russia.

“From our intelligence, we’ve got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “They are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers, but they didn’t move them already to Ukraine or Russia.”

Neither the US State Department nor NATO said they could confirm the Ukrainian claim. On Saturday in Naples, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said he couldn’t confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia – but he said that such a move would be concerning if it’s true.