Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed that the first clashes between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region of Russia have already taken place, but so far they have been "small-scale". Umerov said this in a commentary to the South Korean TV channel KBS, UNN reports.
Details
When asked by a journalist about the first battles between Ukrainian and North Korean troops, Umerov said that they were "small-scale battles." At the same time, he confirmed that this was the first official clash with the North Korean military.
According to him, the DPRK soldiers were "disguised as Buryats" and mixed with Russians, so to confirm the exact number of their losses and prisoners, all the identities need to be checked.
"We are identifying clashes with North Korean forces, but we believe there will be more fighting in the next few weeks, and we will continue to analyze and revise accordingly," Umerov said.
He also added that five units of 3,000 people each are expected to be deployed along the 1,500-kilometer-long front line. Thus, the total number of Koreans involved in the war will be 15 thousand.
Recall
Today, media outlets reportedthat the Ukrainian Armed Forces had their first military clashes with DPRK troops in the Kursk region.
Yesterday, on November 4, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address that 11 thousand DPRK troops had already arrived in the Kursk region of Russia, and our partners had not yet responded.
The Main Intelligence Directorate reportedthat Russia had moved more than 7,000 DPRK soldiers closer to the border with Ukraine, arming them with "infantry-style" mortars, assault rifles, machine guns, and other weapons.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga saidthat Ukraine calls on Europe to realize that DPRK troops are currently waging an aggressive war in Europe against the Ukrainian state, noting that while the West is afraid of escalation and hesitates, Russia is acting and escalating.