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NATO has confirmed North Korea’s deployment to a war zone in western Russia, warning that Pyongyang’s involvement in the war in Ukraine constitutes a threat to both European and Indian Ocean security. -Pacific.
“I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Monday after meeting with the delegation. Korean delegation and representatives of NATO member countries. Indo-Pacific.
He described the deployment as “a significant escalation of North Korea’s participation in Russia’s illegal war” and a “dangerous expansion of Russia’s war.”
Earlier this month, Korea released the video showed North Korean soldiers training on Russian soil and being equipped with Russian uniforms and weapons.
Since then, a contingent of these troops has been transported west to help Russia’s 50,000-strong force in its campaign to retake territory in the Kursk region that has been occupied by Ukrainian troops since their surprise attack. in August.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that North Korean soldiers could be deployed with Russian troops to the “combat zone” as soon as October 27 or 28.
Rutte said that Pyongyang supplied Moscow with ammunition and ballistic missiles in its war against Ukraine, and that Russia in turn assisted North Korea in circumventing international sanctions, including providing key technology .
“The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,” he said, adding: “ It undermines peace on the Korean Peninsula and promotes Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
But Rutte also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s use of foreign fighter jets was a sign of his inability to make up for huge losses in the war.
“The deployment of North Korean troops to Kursk is also a sign of Putin’s growing desperation. More than 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Putin’s war and he cannot sustain his attack on Ukraine without foreign support,” Rutte said.
That figure was echoed by Zelenskyy, who on Monday said the Russian military had suffered up to 650,000 casualties since February 2022.
Ukrainian intelligence officials told the Financial Times on Monday that the deployment of North Korean troops to the front lines signals that Russia’s recruitment drive is slowing down.
Rutte added that NATO “calls on Russia and North Korea to end these actions immediately”.
