Will North Korea provide troops to help Russia with their battle against Ukraine? With least one contingent of over 100 troops, where they are physically within the borders of Ukraine's map before the February 2022 invasion.
1,000
3.00North Korean Soldiers Deployed to Ukraine Reportedly "Gorging" on Uncensored Internet's Porn 😀
https://futurism.com/the-byte/north-korean-soldiers-ukraine-gorging-uncensored-porn
They were already found in Ukraine in October
According to this Youtube Channel Troops have already arrived in Ukraine
https://youtu.be/N7MMB0DsGjU?si=dXQFnGQXU1h_QMac&t=873
I'm guessing that NK troops will be deployed around the Kursk region to push out Ukrainian forces without sending them into Ukraine until at least the end of December- Russia will be trying to minimize the escalation as much as possible to give Western governments cover to not retaliate too strongly.
According to intelligence, the first North Korean soldiers are expected to be deployed by Russia to combat zones as early as October 27-28.
Zelenskiy did not say which frontline sector North Korean soldiers are expected to be sent to or give any other details.
Ukrainian military intelligence said on Thursday that the first North Korean units had already been recorded in Russia's Kursk border region.
@Pjfkh This was addressed in previous comments—answer is no. Description defines that troops must be within pre-Feb 2022 Ukrainian borders.
And here's AP also reporting it: https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-poland-yoon-duda-north-korea-russia-troop-deployment-2435e6ab2b795edf5b7dd233b93b69dd
No confirmation they're in Ukraine yet, of course - but denying that NK has more likely than not sent substantial numbers of troops to train in Russia at this point requires saying "I trust the word of the Russian government more than I trust the word of multiple western governments and news organizations" - which is a position one can take, but a position I'd call epistemically shaky at best.
@MattP There is a difference between "AP reports that X claims that Y is happening" and "AP reports that Y is happening". This article appears to be the former and thus not a new development, but of course I agree that it would be a significant development if AP or another major news outlet were able to independently verify the allegations
I still come to roughly the same conclusion as you: the presence of DPRK troops in Russia is likely, but whether they will be deployed beyond Kursk Oblast by the end of the year or at all is another question
@Lorelai South Korea also confirmed this. Only question is whether they will be deployed to Ukraine pre-2014 territory, or Russian lost territory in Kursk, or used to relieve other troops to free them up for fighting.
Should also add that North Korean advisors / engineers have been in Ukraine for months and reported by Ukrainians multiple times. Assuming that this question is about the troops in larger numbers that were recently discussed in the news
@Luker that's the People's Republic of Kursk. It declared independence from Russia. Ukraine might have to hold a referendum on its territories but its people organically want to become part of Ukraine.
@Lorelai Would to be pre-2022 invasion or pre 2014 invasion? Eg if they were deployed to crimea to threaten Kherson, would that count as Ukraine (as the UN counts Crimea as Ukrainian still) or not?