North Korea is preparing to send North Korea 30,000 troops to help Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine for a “large-scale offensive,” Kyiv’s intelligence services warn.
Ukrainian officials have said that Pyongyang’s soldiers will be sent to the front lines for the summer offensive.
Some 15,000 North Korean troops have already been sent to assist Putin’s forces which comes as 11,000 were sent last year which resulted in around 6,000 being killed in action or injured.
CNN reported that Ukrainian intelligence is suggesting there is a “great possibility” the North Korean troops will be used in combat roles and will assist “to strengthen the Russian contingent, including during the large-scale offensive operations.”
Pyongyang has been assisting Putin with ballistic missiles, millions of round of bullets artillery shells, military engineers and sappers.
In February the head of Ukrainian intelligence Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with South Korean news outlet The Chosun, that North Korea are gaining valuable military experience in Ukraine.
North Korea is modernising their military technology and they are improving their missile accuracy.
On 6 August 2024 Ukrainian forces started their incursion into Russia’s Kursk region and then Vladimir Putin sent up to 12,000 North Korean troops into the Kursk Oblast to help Russian troops.
Budanov said, “Despite heavy casualties, North Korean forces remain actively engaged in joint operations with Russian troops.
This war has mobilised the full military capabilities of the nations involved.
