North Korean troops in Russia train to fight in Ukraine, says Pentagon spokesman

Manila Bulletin

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said a “relatively small number” of North Korean troops are now in the Kursk region, where Russia has struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.  North Korea said Tuesday its top diplomat is visiting Russia, in another sign of their deepening relations as rival South Korea and Western nations say the North has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.  RELATED ARTICLE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/10/29/north-korea-foreign-minister-russia-troops-training  Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin  Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manilabulletin Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin Instagram: https://instagram.com/manilabulletin Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletin  #ManilaBulletinOnline #manilabulletin  #LatestNews

Transcript

00:00We believe that the DPRK has sent approximately 10,000 soldiers in total

00:05to train in eastern Russia and that these troops will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the next several weeks.

00:13A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine towards Russia's Kursk Oblast near the border with Ukraine,

00:21approximately a couple thousand, with a smaller number already present in the Kursk region.

00:26We remain concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Kursk.

00:34We continue to monitor closely and are consulting with our Ukrainian partners as well as other allies and partners.

00:40Indications that there's already a small number that are actually in the Kursk Oblast

00:47with a couple thousand more that are either, you know, almost there or due to arrive imminently.

00:54Again, we'll continue to, the rest at this time, of course, training out in the east,

01:01but fully expect that they'll move in that direction at some point.

01:04Can you sort of narrow that? Are you talking dozens, hundreds?

01:08I'm not going to go into specific numbers other than just to say at this point we assess it's a relatively small number.

01:14This is an indication of the dire situation that Russia finds itself in in terms of manpower on the front lines.

01:22They have experienced significant casualties in this war,

01:27and the fact that they now need to outsource for foreign troops to help support their forces inside Russia

01:38indicates that there's some serious questions in terms of their ability to continue to sustain their personnel requirements.

01:46This is something that we continue to look at in terms of the relationship between Russia and North Korea,

01:52and what kinds of benefit is North Korea deriving from that relationship.

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