North Korea has acknowledged for the first time on Monday that it’s deployed troops to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, several media reported.
The decision, made under the order of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, reportedly made a significant contribution towards liberating Russian territory occupied by Ukraine, state media claimed.
On Saturday, Russia announced all Ukrainian troops had been removed from its Kursk region, which Moscow lost control of last year to a surprise Ukraine incursion.
Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff for Russia’s Armed Forces, had also confirmed that North Korean soldiers fought against Ukrainian troops in the region.
Gerasimov said that they took part in “combat missions shoulder to shoulder with Russian servicemen during the repelling of the Ukrainian incursion” and “demonstrated high professionalism, showed fortitude, courage and heroism in battle.”
In the fall, Ukraine, the US and South Korea all said that North Korea, which previously had supplied weapons to Moscow, had deployed 10,000-12,000 of its troops to Russia to fight in Kursk.
Moscow and Pyongyang until now had responded vaguely to the South Korean and Western claims of the troop deployment, emphasising that their military cooperation conforms with international law, without directly admitting the presence of the North Korean forces in Russia.
This is a developing story, our journalists are working to bring you the latest updates.
