This could be the first visual evidence of North Korea sending troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security released a video on Friday allegedly showing North Korean soldiers at a Russian military camp preparing to join the front.
The video was reportedly filmed in the Sergeevsky military camp in the Russian Far East, near North Korea. We see men in military uniforms queuing to obtain equipment. The Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security did not specify how the video was obtained but assures that it “not older than 72 hours”.
In the process, another video was published, showing these North Korean troops training on the base. In the images, we see Dozens of soldiers dressed in military uniforms, carrying backpacks and walking in single file in what appears to be a Russian military base.
GeoConfirmed UKR.
Reportedly, soldiers of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea, are undergoing training in Russia.
This identification is based on the language used in the video.44.326859, 131.668647
8MG9+PFR Sergeevka, Primorsky Krai,… https://t.co/ut5egxBz0w— GeoConfirmed (@GeoConfirmed) https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1847225352281563393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The unverified images were shared amid reports that Moscow plans to involve Pyongyang in its war against Ukraine in the coming months, with around 10,000 North Korean troops set to join the Russian army, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said the first group of 2,600 troops would be deployed to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion in August and where it still holds significant parts of the territory. He added that nearly 11,000 North Korean troops are in Russia and will be “ready to fight” in Ukraine by November 1.
