U.S. Confirms North Korean Troops in Russia amid Fears They’ll Be Sent to Fight in Ukraine

The United States on Wednesday said at least 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia, raising the possibility they will be sent to fight in Russia’s war on Ukraine — an assertion made by South Korea and the Ukrainian government in Kyiv.

The move may show that Moscow’s shortage of manpower amid exorbitant casualties is worse “than most people realize,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said.

“We are seeing evidence that there are [North Korean] troops that have gone to Russia,” Austin told reporters traveling with him in Rome. “What, exactly, they’re doing is left to be seen.”

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Experts said the extent of North Korea’s possible role in Ukraine would depend on what type of troops it might supply. If the troops in Russia are engineers and technicians, they may be dispatched to Ukraine to observe how their weapon systems are performing.

But if they are special forces or combat troops, as South Korea says, “that is a completely different dimension to the war,” said Duyeon Kim, senior fellow and Korea expert at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.

It would be the first time North Korean troops would be participating on the ground in a “hot war” since the Korean War three-quarters of a century ago, she said.

Read the full article and more on the Los Angeles Times.