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Russia has assembled a large force of tens of thousands – including recently arrived North Korean troops – to launch an attack on Ukrainian positions in Russia’s Kursk region expected in the coming days, a US official told CNN on Sunday.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that around 50,000 Russian and North Korean troops would take part in the attack.
CNN has contacted the Ukrainian government for comment.
A Ukrainian commander told CNN on Sunday that North Korean troops are participating in direct combat operations in Kursk, as well as defensive operations in Russia’s neighboring Belgorod region and in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
“Mostly, the tasks are defined as the second echelon of defense. In the Kursk region, these are direct combat operations,” he said, adding that the personnel included specialist gunners and snipers.
“These groups will be directly involved in combat operations in the short term on the territory of Ukraine. It is very likely that they will also appear in the occupied territories of Ukraine,” the commander said.
He said North Korean troops were a “significant resource” for Russia’s war against Ukraine, since even those deployed defensively would free up Russian troops for offensive operations elsewhere and would themselves eventually be used in direct combat.
“In military terms, it’s three full-blooded brigades. Imagine now that the enemy withdraws 10,000 soldiers from the second line of defense, puts soldiers there from North Korea and sends those three brigades to one of the (places where) it operates. Are three full-blooded brigades a significant resource, yes, it is a significant resource?
Reports that North Korea was sending troops to Russia began to emerge last month, although both countries denied the allegations at the time.
Russia and North Korea, both outcasts in the West, have forged increasingly friendly ties since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. North Korea has one of the largest armies in the world with 1.2 million troops, but most of its soldiers have no combat experience.
Ukraine invaded the Kursk region over the summer, shocking Russia, in the country’s first invasion since World War II.
Ukrainian defenders “bend, but do not break” in fierce battles
But the Ukrainian incursion has not halted Russia’s steady advance in eastern Ukraine, where its army chief warned his forces were facing “one of the most powerful Russian offensives” since the war began.
Ukraine’s president said from Budapest on Thursday that world leaders were not listening carefully enough to his pleas to allow Kiev to use long-range weapons as it faces a “new wave of escalation” involving “the military of another country at war against Ukraine.” .”
All this comes amid questions about Ukraine’s future as US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Trump has promised to end the war in “24 hours”.
During his election campaign, Trump and his opponent, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, doubted the continued commitment of the US to Kiev.
They made comments suggesting the US could pressure Ukraine into a tough truce with Russia, which would see Kiev and its NATO allies prepare for the possibility of a dramatic reduction in US support two and a half years after Moscow’s invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public comments on the US election on Thursday, saying he was open to dialogue with the Republican president-elect and saying Trump’s comments about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine “at the very least deserve attention.”
Trump and Zelensky spoke the day after the election when the Ukrainian president called to congratulate the president-elect in what a source briefed on the call described as a positive conversation.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration on Friday lifted a de facto ban on U.S. military contractors going to Ukraine to help the country’s military maintain and repair U.S.-provided weapons systems, an official with direct knowledge of the plan told CNN.
The move allows the Pentagon to secure contracts for US companies to work in Ukraine for the first time since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
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