Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv reports first clashes with North Korean troops on frontline
First battles with North Korean soldiers open ‘new page’ in war, says Zelensky
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukrainian forces have engaged in “small-scale” clashes with North Korean troops in Kursk, marking their first battlefield confrontation with Kim Jong-un’s soldiers, Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov said.
“Yes, I think so. It is (an) engagement,” Mr Umerov said when asked if a clash had occurred.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said “the first battles with North Korean soldiers open a new page of instability in the world” as the war in Europe inches closer to its 1000-days mark.
The US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by Pyongyang to the war under a pact with Moscow.
Kyiv has assessed that Vladimir Putin is cutting short the training period for North Korean soldiers, earlier expected to last a month, in order to rush them to the frontline.
Earlier the G7 described the reports of thousands of North Korean troops joining Russian forces in Ukraine as a sign of Putin’s “desperation” to compensate for his battlefield losses.
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