North Korean troops have engaged in clashes against Ukrainian forces that are fighting in the Russian Kursk region, the New York Times reported late on Tuesday, citing an unnamed senior U.S. official and an unnamed senior Ukrainian official.
The engagement was limited, the Ukrainian official told the newspaper and likely meant to probe the Ukrainian lines for weaknesses. The Ukrainian official added that the North Korean troops fought together with Russia’s 810 Separate Naval Infantry Brigade.
The office of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian defence ministry, the Russian defence ministry, the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of State did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests to comment.
Ukrainian troops launched an incursion into Russia’s border Kursk region in August, taking a number of settlements under control in the first such deployment onto Russian territory since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.
The Pentagon said on Monday that there were at least 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk but could not corroborate reports that they were engaged in combat.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said in an interview with South Korean television that the first engagement had occurred with North Korean troops.
The New York Times reported that it was unclear when the fighting took place. The U.S. official told the newspaper that a significant number of North Korean troops were killed.
Zelenskiy said on Tuesday in his nightly address that the first battles between the Ukrainian military and North Korean troops “open a new page in instability in the world.”
Russia Denied North Korean Involvement
The Kremlin had dismissed reports about a North Korean troop deployment as “fake news”. But Putin on Thursday did not deny that North Korean troops were currently in Russia and said that it was Moscow’s business how to implement a partnership treaty with Pyongyang.
A North Korean representative to the United Nations in New York called the reports “groundless rumours”.
Ukraine’s top presidential official said on Monday sanctions would not be a sufficient response to North Korean involvement in the war and called for more Western arms supplies to Kyiv.
“North Korean troops are already in the Kursk region…This is an escalation. Sanctions alone are not enough. We need weapons and a clear plan to prevent North Korea’s expanded involvement in the war in Europe,” Andriy Yermak, president’s chief of staff, said on X.
He added that Ukraine’s Western allies should respond firmly since “the enemy understands strength”.