Russia pulls over 7K N. Korean tros to Ukraine’s border in past week – intel

This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, (GUR), Ukrinform saw.

"In the last week of October 2024, the aggressor state Russia transferred more than 7,000 sdiers of the North Korean army from the Primorsk Area of the Russian Federation to the regions close to Ukraine," the statement reads.

According to the GUR, the North Korean tros were dispatched on at least 28 military cargo planes erated by Russia’s Aerospace Forces.

Moscow armed the DPRK military with 60 mm mortars, AK-12 assault rifles, RPK/PKM machine guns, SVD/SVCh sniper rifles, Phoenix anti-tank missile systems, and RPG-7 grenade launchers.

Also, the North Koreans, or, as the Russian military refers to them, "special Buryats", were handed a few night vision devices, thermal imagers, climator sights, and binoculars.

Read also: Escalation with dangerous implications: Ottawa, Seoul on North Korean tros in Russia

The GUR reminded that the N. Korean tros undergo training at five sites across Russia’s Far East.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the National Intelligence Service in South Korea assessed that Pyongyang had decided to dispatch 12,000 sdiers to help Russia sustain its war against Ukraine. The contingent is worth four brigades of sdiers, including special forces.

According to Ukraine’s defense intelligence, 18 North Korean servicemen attempted to escape from the positions in Russia’s Kursk region. They were shortly detained in Briansk region.