Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Ukrainian Troops Have Engaged With North Korean Units for the 1st Time in Russia, an Official Says
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 months ago on
November 5, 2024

Ukraine reports first combat engagement with North Korean troops in Russia, marking a significant shift in the ongoing conflict. (AP/Russian Defense Ministry)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian troops have for the first time engaged with North Korean units that were recently deployed to help Russia in the war with its neighbor, Ukraine’s defense minister said Tuesday.

Another Kyiv official said Ukraine’s army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region.

The comments were the first official reports that Ukrainian and North Korean forces have engaged in combat, following a deployment that has given the war a new complexion as it approaches its 1,000-day milestone.

Neither claim could be independently confirmed.

Small-Scale Fighting Marks North Korea’s Direct Involvement

The Ukrainian and North Korean troops engaged in “small-scale” fighting that amounted to the start of Pyongyang’s direct involvement in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korea’s public broadcaster KBS in an interview.

North Korean soldiers are mixed with Russian troops and are misidentified on their uniforms, Umerov was quoted as saying by KBS. That makes it hard to say whether there were any North Korean casualties, he said.

Umerov reportedly said he expects that five North Korean units, each consisting of about 3,000 soldiers, will be deployed to the Kursk area.

Meanwhile, Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine’s Security Council, said “the first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region.”

He provided no further details.

Western Governments Anticipate North Korean Troop Deployment

Western governments had expected that the North Korean soldiers would be sent to Russia’s Kursk border region, where a 3-month-old incursion by the Ukrainian army is the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II and has embarrassed the Kremlin.

U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by Pyongyang to the war under a pact with Moscow.

The Pentagon said Monday that at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia near Ukraine’s border.

More troops from North Korea’s 1.3-million-strong army may be slated for deployment in Russia, according to an analysis published Tuesday by the European Council on Foreign Relations, an international think tank.

The ramifications extend far beyond Europe, it said.

“Despite integration challenges — including communication barriers and differing military doctrines — the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia represents a significant shift in European and Asian security relations,” the analysis said. “For the first time in generations, troops from East Asia are actively engaging in a European conflict.”

Ukraine Faces Mounting Pressure on the Battlefield

The North Korean troops, whose fighting quality and battle experience is unknown, are adding to Ukraine’s worsening situation on the battlefield.

Ukrainian defenses, especially in the eastern Donetsk region, are buckling under the strain of Russia’s costly but relentless monthslong onslaught.

Russian advances have recently accelerated, with battlefield gains of up to 9 kilometers (more than 5 miles) in some parts of Donetsk, the U.K. Defense Ministry said Tuesday on the social platform X.

It said Russia has superior troop numbers, and despite heavy casualties the Kremlin’s recruitment drive is providing enough new troops to keep up the pressure.

Russia has held the battlefield initiative in Ukraine for the past year. Ukrainian officials have long complained that Western military support takes too long to arrive in the country.

In early October, Russian forces drove Ukrainian troops out of Vuhledar, a town perched atop a tactically significant hill in eastern Ukraine.

It was part of a key belt of Ukrainian defenses in the east. Russia’s next targets likely are the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk and the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar.

In the meantime, Russia has kept up its long-range aerial attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine, authorities say.

A Tuesday morning attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed six people and injured 23 others, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.

The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said the Russian attacks “must be stopped with strong action.”

“A stronger position by (Ukraine’s Western) allies is needed,” he wrote on Telegram.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

DON'T MISS

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

DON'T MISS

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

DON'T MISS

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

DON'T MISS

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

DON'T MISS

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

DON'T MISS

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

DON'T MISS

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

DON'T MISS

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

DON'T MISS

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

UP NEXT

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

UP NEXT

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

UP NEXT

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

UP NEXT

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

UP NEXT

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

UP NEXT

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

UP NEXT

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

UP NEXT

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

UP NEXT

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

UP NEXT

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

54 minutes ago

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

1 hour ago

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

1 hour ago

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

1 hour ago

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

1 hour ago

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

1 hour ago

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

1 hour ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

1 hour ago

Fresno Authorities Seeks Public’s Help to Locate Family of Deceased Man

2 hours ago

Opinion: Does Jesus Want Christians to Be Environmentalists?

6 hours ago

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

IOWA CITY — Caitlin Clark raised the profile of women’s basketball to unprecedented levels in both the college ranks and the WNBA, and...

12 minutes ago

12 minutes ago

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

Rams
17 minutes ago

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

34 minutes ago

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

54 minutes ago

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

1 hour ago

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

An undated photo provided by NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe shows an unprocessed image from the WISPR instrument of the comet NEOWISE on July 5, 2020, shortly after its closest approach to the sun. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Lab/Parker Solar Probe/Brendan Gallagher via The New York Times)
1 hour ago

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

1 hour ago

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat looks toward quiet check-in counters in the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
1 hour ago

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend