The Pentagon confirms North Korea sent 10,000 troops to Russia for training

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The US Department of Defense confirmed Monday that North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia for training, revising a previous estimate of 3,000 troops, as NATO and Brussels fear a dangerous escalation.

Moscow and Pyongyang have stepped up military cooperation since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, but involving North Korean forces in the fighting would mark a major turning point.

“We believe the DPRK has sent approximately 10,000 troops to train in eastern Russia,” said Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, which likely will lead to a buildup of Russian forces near Ukraine in the coming weeks.

Singh pointed out that a part of these forces has already approached Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that North Korea sending thousands of troops to Russia was a very dangerous development.

On the ground, the Russian army has made progress in Ukrainian territory by 478 square kilometers since the beginning of October, the largest advance in a month since March 2022, according to data from the American Institute for the Study of War.

By October 27, Russian forces had captured more territory than they had in August and September (477 and 459 square kilometers, respectively), especially in eastern Ukraine.

“The enemy understands the language of force”.

Hours before the Pentagon’s comments, new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned against increased cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Rutte said he could confirm that North Korean military units had been sent to the Kursk region in western Russia, warning that this constituted a major escalation.

“Deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the security of the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions,” he said at a press conference.

“The deployment of North Korean troops in Kursk (Russia) is also an indication of Putin’s growing desperation,” he added.

Ukrainian forces have been conducting a ground operation in Kursk since August and now control hundreds of square kilometers of Russian territory.

Rutte said more than 600,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded since the conflict began, adding that the Kremlin was unable to continue the invasion without external support.

Following a phone call with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that sending North Korean soldiers for the first time to support Russia’s war of aggression was a turning point.

“It’s a dangerous escalation and a threat to world peace,” Ursula von der Leyen said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week called on his Western allies to impose sanctions on Russia and North Korea.

“Sanctions aren’t enough… We need weapons and a clear plan to prevent North Korea from getting more involved in the war in Europe,” Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential administration of Ukraine, wrote on X on Monday, stressing that “North Korean troops are present in the Kursk region”.

“Today, Russia is intervening in North Korea, and then it may expand its involvement in the war, and other authoritarian regimes may see that they can get away with it and come and fight NATO,” he added.

“The enemy understands the language of force… Our allies have this force,” Yermak concluded, referring to the military assistance Kyiv expects from its allies to confront Moscow.

For its part, North Korea stressed that any deployment of soldiers in Russia would be in accordance with international law, without confirming or denying their presence.

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