Ukraine has engaged militarily for the primary time with North Korean troops deployed to help Russia in its ongoing struggle with its neighbor, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Tuesday in a nightly handle.
Zelenskyy didn’t go into element concerning the engagement however warned of what he says is Russia’s intention to escalate the struggle that has raged for practically 1,000 days.
A Kyiv official mentioned Ukraine’s military fired artillery at North Korean troopers in Russia’s Kursk border area.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (Thierry Monasse/Getty Photographs, left | Korean Central Information Company, proper)
“Terror, unfortunately, can spread like a virus when it does not meet sufficient counteraction. Now our counteraction must be sufficient, strong enough. The first battles with North Korean soldiers have opened a new chapter of instability in the world,” Zelenskyy mentioned in his nightly video handle as he thanked Ukraine’s allies all over the world.
“Together with the world, we must do everything so that this Russian step to expand the war with real escalation fails. Both for Russia and North Korea.”
South Korea’s Protection Ministry mentioned Tuesday that greater than 10,000 North Korean troops arrived in Russia, with a “significant number” within the frontline areas, together with the Kursk area the place Ukrainian forces staged an incursion in August.
Ukrainian Protection Minister Rustem Umerov instructed South Korean state tv there had been a “small engagement” with the North Korean troops, per Reuters. The report, with excerpts from the interview, quoted Umerov as saying the engagement was small and never but systematic when it comes to mobilizing troopers.
North Korean chief Kim Jong Un, left, is proven throughout artillery drills on March 7, 2024. (Korean Central Information Company/Korea Information Service by way of AP)
Umerov reportedly mentioned he expects 5 North Korean items, every consisting of about 3,000 troopers, zto be deployed to the Kursk space. North Korean troopers are combined with Russian troops and are misidentified on their uniforms, Umerov was quoted as saying, based on the Related Press.
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Russia is reported to have 1.3 million active-duty troopers with one other 2 million in reserve. Russia is now seeing its highest variety of casualties than at some other time for the reason that struggle started, with some 1,200 casualties reported a day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned final week. Regardless of the excessive variety of casualties, there doesn’t seem like any finish in sight to the struggle, validating early considerations that this is able to be a struggle of attrition.
Zelenskyy has been sounding the alarm that the latest deployment of North Korean troops in Russia not solely spells hassle for Ukraine but additionally attracts into query the steadiness and safety of countries in Asia which can be allied with the West.
“North Korea’s actions aren’t random,” Zelenskyy mentioned in an interview with South Korea’s public broadcasting community KBS on Thursday. “They have strategic goals.”
“Their actions aren’t coincidental. They want Russia’s support in return,” he added in feedback additionally posted to his social media account on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Christoph Soeder/Pool by way of AP/File)
Zelenskyy has known as on South Korea to take a much bigger function within the battle and has mentioned that South Korea has already pledged to ship a group of specialists to Ukraine, the place they’ll collaborate on defensive capabilities, together with air protection, as North Korea additionally supplies Russian with artillery and missiles.
“If South Korea wants to understand the real capabilities of North Korea and its soldiers, it would benefit them to be here to see and analyze the reality firsthand,” he mentioned. “Think about how shut North Korea is to [the South Korean capital] Seoul [25-30 miles], the vary of contemporary artillery, not even missiles.
“Air defenses can’t counter artillery strikes. Our personal cities have been obliterated by artillery. I hope South Korea by no means faces this, however preparation is essential,” Zelenskyy added.
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Soldiers march in a parade on the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding day in Pyongyang on Sept. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan/File)
Zelenskyy also called into question China’s “silence” with regard to the North’s recent involvement in the war.
Meanwhile, North Korea was reported to have fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday.
The launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
