North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, South Korean lawmakers say. Zelenskyi prepares an internal plan for Ukrainians to boost the country\u2019s resilience. An advance on Zaporizhzhia could be Russia\u2019s next objective, according to The Economist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday after being briefed by the national intelligence agency, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pyongyang had promised to provide a total of about 10,000 troops, whose deployment was expected to be completed by December, the lawmakers told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest numbers came after Seoul’s National Intelligence Service said on Friday the North had sent some 1,500 special forces personnel to Russia by ship. \u201cSigns of troops being trained inside North Korea were detected in September and October,\u201d Park Sun-won, a member of a parliamentary intelligence committee, said after the briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Moscow and Pyongyang have also denied weapons transfers, but they have pledged to boost military ties and signed a mutual defence treaty at a summit in June. The Kremlin has previously dismissed Seoul\u2019s claims about the North\u2019s troop deployment as \u201cfake news\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pyongyang has not publicly responded to the claims by Seoul and Kyiv, but authorities there made efforts to keep news of the dispatch from spreading, said Lee Seong-kweun, another lawmaker on the South Korean committee. \u201cThere are also signs of North Korean authorities relocating and isolating those families (of the troops) in a certain place in order to effectively control them and thoroughly crack down on the rumours,\u201d Lee said, citing the spy agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee also said the agency confirmed that Russia had recruited a \u201clarge number\u201d of interpreters for the North Korean soldiers, while training them in the use of military equipment such as drones. \u201cRussian instructors are assessing that the North Korean military has excellent physical attributes and morale but lacks understanding of modern warfare such as drone attacks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawmaker Park said Pyongyang may be seeking in return to prompt intervention by Russia in case of a contingency on the Korean peninsula as well as receive economic assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Tuesday the South\u2019s presidential office urged an immediate withdrawal of the North\u2019s troops from Russia, warning that it may consider supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine if military ties between them went too far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States said for the first time on Wednesday that it had seen evidence of North Korean troops in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia,\u201d U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters, using North Korea\u2019s formal name, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea. \u201cWhat exactly they\u2019re doing remains to be seen,\u201d Austin said while in Rome. \u201cThese are things that we need to sort out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi instructed the government to draw up proposals for the so-called internal action plan to help the country thrive in times of war, BBC Ukraine said, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials. The document will offer solutions in a number of sectors, including the military-industrial complex, defense, economy, and social policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative is not meant to replace the victory plan. While the latter details the steps to be taken by Ukraine\u2019s western allies to make sure that the country prevails, the internal plan will consist of the points that Ukraine has to implement. \u201cThe President has already instructed [the team] to develop a plan,\u201d a source at the Office of the President that was granted anonymity told BBC Ukraine. The plan will be prepared and presented to the Ukrainians by the end of the year, he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe aim is to make every effort to preserve unity and achieve the results in various sectors that contribute to the country\u2019s growth,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A senior Ukrainian official, cited by The Economist, says Russia\u2019s next objective might be an advance on the city of Zaporizhia, a major industrial centre in Ukraine\u2019s south close to a Russian-occupied nuclear-power plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same source suggests that Russia may have already taken back as much as half of the territory that Ukraine seized in the Kursk region in August 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia is in the process of encircling Pokrovsk, an important logistical hub in eastern Ukraine, and advancing farther south, after taking control of the heights around Vuhledar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s worries go beyond the shaky front lines. Western support, already stretched thin, is looking more precarious than before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week the G7 further fleshed out the details of a loan of $50bn, to be paid for by interest on seized Russian assets; final agreement should be reached in the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if Donald Trump wins America\u2019s election, now two weeks away, much of its direct military assistance could be choked off. A victory by Kamala Harris offers no promises either. Germany, Ukraine\u2019s second-biggest backer, has already signaled that aid will fall. France has done likewise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"