FT: The Ukrainian military has already faced North Korean soldiers in combat

The Ukrainian military encountered soldiers from the DPRK for the first time in combat on November 4 in the Kursk region of Russia.

Ukrainian officials informed the Financial Times (FT) about this.

The head of the Center for countering disinformation at NSDC Andriy Kovalenko initially reported that the first military units of the DPRK in Kurshchyna were fired upon yesterday. A high-ranking representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate (known as GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed this fact to the FT without further details.

This is the first direct intervention of a foreign army in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the expansion of the conflict, which has already become the largest land war in Europe since the World War II, writes the FT.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha stated that he discussed with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbok the need to act decisively in response to a new challenge.

The day before, the US summoned Russia and China to the UN Security Council for "shameful protection" and encouraging Pyongyang to participate in the war. South Korea and the European Union have also condemned the deployment of North Korean troops — they are concerned that in exchange Moscow could transfer nuclear and ballistic technology to North Korea.

Another Ukrainian official told the FT that the Kremlin is already providing North Korea with military technology and funding to support the countryʼs missile programs.

The participation of the military of North Korea in the war in Ukraine

On October 24, the Ukrainian intelligence reported that the first soldiers from the DPRK had already arrived at the front, in the Kursk region. There are approximately 12 000 military personnel, including 500 officers and three generals.

South Korean intelligence reported that the first part of the military was transported by ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet to Vladivostok on October 8-13, they were given Russian uniforms, weapons and fake Russian passports. Babel sources said that they are being prepared in such cities as Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, and on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Federation, a "special Buryat battalion" staffed by citizens of the DPRK is being formed.

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal wrote that the strategic partnership agreement between the Russian Federation and North Korea, which Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed in June, contains a secret clause. According to the agreement, the DPRK will be able to send approximately a thousand of its soldiers to Ukraine at first, and later more.

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