For more than a year, Russia has been leaning on its increasingly close ally North Korea for supplies of artillery shells and ballistic missiles to prosecute its grinding war in Ukraine. Now, Ukrainian officials are warning that North Korea plans to expand its assistance by dispatching troops. South Korea’s chief intelligence agency said on Oct. 18 that it had monitored the Russian navy moving North Korean forces to Russia as a first step toward sending them to the frontlines in Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed reports of the troop deployment as a hoax.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said Russian navy ships had transported approximately 1,500 North Korean special forces to Russia for “adaptation” training in advance of a deployment to Ukraine. The agency said they were issued Russian military uniforms and weapons as well as fake ID cards that made it appear as if they were from Siberia. It said a second transport operation was scheduled soon, with North Korea looking to dispatch around 12,000 troops. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said North Korea intends to send 10,000 soldiers.