The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said that about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen are being trained in eastern Russia to fight in Ukraine. He said this in a commentary to the publication The War Zone, reports UNN.
"They will be ready (to fight in Ukraine - ed.) on November 1," Lieutenant General Kirill Budanov told TWZ.
He also added that North Korean troops will use Russian equipment and ammunition. The first detachment of 2,600 soldiers will go to the Kursk region, where Ukraine has created a bridgehead for heavy fighting. It is not yet clear where the rest of the North Korean troops will go, the intelligence chief added.
"We don't have a complete picture right now," Budanov said.
Recall
Sources of UNN reported that Russia is forming a "special Buryat battalion" staffed by North Korean citizens. The estimated number of personnel is up to three thousand people. It was reported that this battalion could probably be deployed near Kursk and Suji.
Sources also reported that 18 North Korean soldiers had already escaped from their positions on the border of the Bryansk and Kursk regions of Russia .