Updated October 16, 2024 at 10:03 AM ET
KYIV, Ukraine 鈥� The Ukrainian government says its military intelligence has evidence that North Korea isn鈥檛 just sending weapons to assist Russia in the war on Ukraine. Pyongyang may also be sending soldiers.
鈥淭his is no longer just about transferring weapons,鈥� Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about actually transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces.鈥�
Andriy Kovalenko, who leads the center for countering disinformation on Ukraine鈥檚 Defense and Security Council, told NPR that he was briefed on the issue and said Russia is training North Korean military personnel on Russian territory.
鈥淭he enemy鈥檚 plans are to use [the North Korean presence] to reinforce conscripts and border guards in the border regions of Russia,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 too early to say whether they will be deployed directly on the territory of Ukraine.鈥�
White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement that the Biden administration is concerned about reports of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia. If true, he said, it "would mark a significant increase" in the two countries' defense relationship and would "indicate a new level of desperation for Russia as it continues to suffer significant casualties on the battlefield in its brutal war against Ukraine."
The South Korean Defense Ministry says it鈥檚 closely monitoring for signs of these troop deployments.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, the Ukrainian claim an 鈥渋nformation hoax.鈥�
North Korea and Russia have signed a strategic agreement that serves as a military alliance. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik this summer that Pyongyang has been sending Russia millions of artillery shells.
There鈥檚 also evidence that North Korea is making missiles to order for Russia and that those missiles are being used to attack Ukraine.
Investigators from Conflict Armament Research, a U.K.-based investigative organization tracking the supply of weapons and ammunition in armed conflicts, the remnants of four North Korean-manufactured Hwasong-11 ballistic missiles in Ukraine.
鈥淭his illustrates two things,鈥� says Damien Spleeters, who leads CAR鈥檚 investigations in Ukraine. 鈥淭he first thing is that there wasn鈥檛 just a one-off transfer of missiles in late 2023. We see that there鈥檚 at least been another transfer in 2024. So it鈥檚 an ongoing type of relationship. The second thing is that there鈥檚 a very tight window between production, transfer and use.鈥�
He said the missile component found was made around March of this year and used a few months later, in August.
Ukraine says North Korean military engineers have been sent to Russia or even occupied territories to check how well these missiles are launching. Spleeters doesn鈥檛 rule that out.
鈥淚t would make sense for people involved in the production of those missiles to be close to where they are being used and assess how effective they are, in order to make improvements to those missiles,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, Kovalenko of Ukraine鈥檚 Defense and Security Council said the presence of North Korean troops in Russia 鈥渋s already a complete change of balance鈥� in a war where NATO says it has not put boots on the ground in Ukraine.
鈥淎lso,鈥� he added, 鈥渁utocrats make weapons cheaper and faster.鈥�
Zelenskyy on Wednesday that North Korea is also sending factory workers to Russia to replace those conscripted to fight in Ukraine.
Speaking to lawmakers about his plan to end the war on Ukraine鈥檚 terms, the president said he hopes Ukraine's allies will change their strategy to help the country prevail. One of the conditions in his plan is that Ukraine be invited to join NATO before the war ends, something many Western allies, including the United States, are reluctant to do in order to avoid angering Russia.
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