Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that its forces had recently engaged for the first time with North Korean troops sent to assist Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the developments after North Korea sent troops into the theater opened “a new page of global instability.”
What we know about engagement
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov admitted in an interview on South Korean TV that there had been “small engagements” with North Korean troops.
Another Kiev official said troops fired on North Korean soldiers in the Russian border area of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces have been invading Moscow territory for three months.
“The first shelling of the North Korean military has already taken place in the Kursk region,” said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the counter-disinformation department of Ukraine’s Security Council. He did not elaborate.
In his nightly video address, President Zelenskiy thanked allies around the world for last month’s dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia, “not just in words…but preparing actions to support our defense.”
“The first battle with North Korean soldiers opens a new chapter in global instability.”
The president said that Ukraine and the international community “must do everything to ensure that Russia’s efforts to seriously escalate the war do not fail.”
Ukrainian, South Korean and US sources all say North Korea is transferring at least 10,000 soldiers to Russia, with some reports citing numbers up to 12,000.
G7 and others are concerned about ‘dangerous escalation’
Ahead of Tuesday’s report, foreign ministers from the Group of Seven democracies and three major allies spoke out about North Korean troops being sent to Russia and the possibility that they could be used in the war against Ukraine.
“In addition to demonstrating Russia’s desperate efforts to make up for its losses, North Korea’s direct support for Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine would signal a dangerous escalation of the conflict,” the ministers said in a statement. ” he said.
G7 members United States, Japan, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Canada signed the message, along with South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Both countries condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the increased military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, as well as North Korea’s export of ballistic missiles and ammunition to Russia.
Their statement added that North Korea’s “soldiers receiving or providing training or other support related to the use of ballistic missiles or weapons” is also a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
rc/wmr (dpa, Reuters)
