Head of Ukrainian intelligence: 11,000 North Koreans are preparing to fight with Ukraine
In an interview with The War Zone, the head of the General Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, confirmed the information that North Korean troops are undergoing training in Russia to participate in the war against Ukraine .
According to him, about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen are currently undergoing training in eastern Russia, and they will be ready for combat operations on November 1.
"We don't have the full picture at the moment," Budanov said, adding that the first division of 2,600 soldiers was planned to be sent to the Kursk region.
Information on the further distribution of the remaining North Korean troops is not yet available. These statements confirm the concerns expressed earlier by the Ukrainian leadership and international observers.
Earlier , on October 8, the Ministry of Defense of South Korea announced that North Korea may send part of its regular armed forces to Ukraine to support Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has raised the issue several times, declaring that North Korea has actually joined the war and calling on partners to step up their support for Ukraine. On October 17, he clarified that Russia intends to involve about 10,000 North Korean soldiers in the war against Ukraine.
The Russian government has denied allegations of involvement of the DPRK military. On October 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called such reports unreliable. "This looks like another false information," Peskov told reporters.
