Ukrainian intelligence sources said Wednesday that North Korea will dispatch an additional 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers to fight for Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.
CNN reported on the same day that satellite imagery of an airport in North Korea taken on June 4 shows what appear to be Ilyushin-76 transport planes, used to carry North Korean soldiers to Russia last year, taxiing on the tarmac.
Those troops were sent to the western Russian region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces staged cross-border incursions, to join the fighting against Ukraine.
Military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow has deepened, with the former also supplying the latter with ammunition and self-propelled artillery.
South Korean intelligence reported in April that North Korea deployed 15,000 troops to Russia.
Ukraine is believed to be increasingly concerned about the additional deployment. CNN reported that intelligence assessment from Ukrainian officials has found that “there is a great possibility” that the North Korean troops will be engaged in combat in parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine.
