North Korean troops have begun to take part in hostilities alongside Russian forces, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Tuesday, UNN reports.
Details
"Today I can confirm that over 10,000 DPRK soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters at a briefing.
"Russian forces have trained the DPRK soldiers in artillery, in UAV and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, which are critical skills for frontline operations. However, Russia’s battlefield success using these DPRK troops will in large part be dictated by how well the Russians can integrate them into their military. Some of the challenges they would need to overcome are interoperability, the language barrier, command and control, and communications", he said.
"The United States is consulting closely with our allies and partners and other countries in the region on the implications of this, on these developments. As you so all know, the Secretary of course is on his way to Europe for engagements at NATO and the European Union, where I have no doubt this topic will come up and be discussed, and we’ll continue to consult appropriately in close coordination with allies and partners. And at the direction of President Biden, we’re continuing to surge the security assistance that we are providing to Ukraine as well", Patel added.