U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday that thousands of North Korean troops presently stationed successful Russia are expected to participate combat against Ukraine "soon."
Speaking during a sojourn to Fiji, Austin said astir 10,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to beryllium successful Russia’s Kursk region, adjacent the borderline with Ukraine, wherever they are being integrated into Russian subject formations.
"Based upon what they've been trained on, the mode they've been integrated into the Russian formations, I afloat expect to spot them engaged successful combat soon," Austin told reporters.
He added that determination has not yet been "significant reporting" of North Korean troops actively fighting.
South Korean officials and a probe radical said Thursday that Russia provided North Korea with oil, anti-air missiles and economical assistance successful speech for troops, a assertion some Washington and Seoul person backed.
Ukraine has warned that Russia, bolstered by North Korean soldiers, has amassed a 50,000-strong unit to retake parts of the borderline portion captured by Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian troops seized swaths of Kursk successful a astonishment violative successful August, adjacent arsenic their forces remained heavy stretched successful the Donetsk region, which has been the focal constituent of astir 3 years of fighting.
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