NATO Confirms North Korean Troops In Russia, Says It Shows Putin's 'Desperation'
According to RFE/RL, The NATO military alliance has confirmed that North Korean troops have moved to Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.
Speaking in Brussels on October 28, NATO chief Mark Rutte called the move a "significant escalation" in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and said it shows Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation" after "more than 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded" in the war.
Rutte’s comments follow weeks of reports suggesting that North Korea was sending troops to Russia in a further sign of increasingly closer ties that include the delivery of North Korean ammunition and weapons for use against Ukraine.
The latest reports, which originated from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, have suggested that more than 3,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, with more than 12,000 expected by December.
Fighter pilots are also among the personnel being sent to Russia, according to South Korean intelligence.
There are rising concerns that the troops and pilots could boost Russian forces in Ukraine, while some analysts have suggested that they may be intended to defend Russian territory or to construct defenses in Russian-held territory in Ukraine.
Last week, South Korean politicians who had been briefed by the country’s spy agency said that the North Korean soldiers sent to Russia had not been deployed in combat zones in Ukraine but were receiving “specialized training” at various locations for military equipment, including drones.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with their South Korean counterparts later this week in Washington.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on October 28 that Austin and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun will discuss the deployment of North Korean soldiers, adding that there will be no limitations on the use of U.S.-provided weapons on them.
“If we see [North Korean] troops moving in towards the front lines, they are co-belligerents in the war,” Singh said. “This is a calculation that North Korea has to make.”
In his remarks, NATO chief Rutte said that North Korean troops had been deployed near Russia’s western border with Ukraine.
