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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is seeking 30,000 additional North Korean troops and more ballistic missile launchers to support its war against Ukraine.
Preparations to receive the troops have been underway since June in Russia’s Voronezh region near the Ukrainian border, Zelenskyy said in a post on X late Saturday.
“Russia wants to receive another 30,000 troops from North Korea,” he said. “Since June, preparations have been underway in Russia’s Voronezh region to receive them.”
Zelenskyy said North Korea was also preparing to transfer additional ballistic missile launchers to Russia.
“This is a threat not only to Ukraine,” he said.
Zelenskyy said Russia was helping North Korea learn how to conduct warfare, improve its weapons and gain combat experience using them.
“All of this is a threat to everyone in Asia who is within range of North Korean missiles,” he added.
North Korea sent thousands of troops to help Russia repel a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kursk region in 2024.
Pyongyang has also supplied weapons to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 2022.
About 2,000 North Korean troops have been killed in the war, according to South Korea.
Russia and North Korea signed a military assistance treaty in 2024.
North Korea renewed its support for Russia’s war during Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui’s visit to Moscow this week.
Pyongyang expressed continued support for Russia’s internal and foreign policies aimed at what it called eliminating the root cause of the Ukraine conflict and defending Russian sovereignty, territorial integrity and international justice, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said after the talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude for North Korea’s support in a video released before Choe’s visit.
In return for its military assistance, North Korea has received cash, military technology, food and energy supplies to help it withstand international sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.
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