Some 8,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk border region and are ready to fight Ukrainian forces “in the coming days,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
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Mr. Blinken said that of the 10,000 North Korean troops the United States said had entered Russia, up to 8,000 “were deployed in the Kursk region,” on the border with Ukraine. .
“We have not yet seen these troops deploy in combat against Ukrainian forces, but we expect that to happen in the coming days,” Blinken added during a press conference organized at the the outcome of talks between the United States and South Korea.
Russia has trained North Korean troops “in artillery, drones, basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that it fully intends to use these forces in front-line operations,” he said.
“If these troops engaged in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would become legitimate military targets,” Blinken said.