Putin amasses North Koreans to fight Ukraine, Kyiv says

KYIV — Russia is gathering huge numbers of North Koreans to fight in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official told POLITICO.

“They are called the Buryat Battalion … there are some 3,000 North Koreans there,” the official said, when granted anonymity to candidly discuss the sensitive topic.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday said that Ukraine is now fighting against two states.

“The coalition of criminals together with Putin currently includes North Korea — the Kim family, which enslaves more than 20 million of the Korean people. Our intelligence records not only the transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia but also the transfer of people,” Zelenskyy said while presenting his so-called victory plan to the Ukrainian parliament.

“These are workers for Russian factories — instead of Russians killed in the war. And personnel for the Russian army. This is the participation of the second state in the war against Ukraine on the side of Russia,” Zelenskyy added.

The Kyiv Independent reported, citing an anonymous Western official, that Pyongyang has so far actually sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia to boost its war effort in Ukraine.

Ukraine has previously said that North Korea has been supplying Russia with missiles and ammunition since the beginning of 2024, as Moscow’s forces push forward on the battlefield.

In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty that commits both countries to provide military assistance to each other if either is attacked.

The Kremlin, for its part, has described the reports of North Korean troops preparing to enter combat as “another fake news.”