The Ukrainian defence ministry has confirmed its soldiers engaging North Korean troops who have arrived to fight alongside the invading Russian forces. In what was officially described as a "small engagement" by defence minister Rustem Umerov, North Korean soldiers in Kursk were forced to run for cover after their positions were struck by artillery fire. However, the incident was "not isolated", he added.
This was the first direct attack on the Asian soldiers after their arrival to join the Russian war efforts, Kyiv reportedly said.
North Korean soldiers were deployed in Kursk Oblast where Russia and Ukraine are fighting a key battle. Kyiv launched an assault on Russian-held Kursk on August 6. This later proved to be instrumental in slowing down Russia's advancement and victory in the region holds the key to the future plans of both sides. It is in this background that Moscow decided to send 11,000 North Korean soldiers in the southern Kursk region.
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North Korean soldiers in Kursk are using Russian military uniforms, Kyiv has said. They are pressed into service after a few weeks of training. They are being taught to operate mortars, rifles, machine guns, and anti-tank missiles, the Ukrainian intelligence has reportedly learnt. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself had said that the North Korean troops were being trained to use reconnaissance and strike drones, Business Insider said in a report.
According to the Ukrainian defence minister, it is usual for his forces to conduct reconnaissance missions in Kursk to locate Russian positions. In such missions carried out to locate targets for future strikes, scouts of the rivalling factions may spot each other, leading to brief engagements. It was one such "ordinary combat engagement" that happened to be Ukraine's first direct conflict with North Korean troops, Umerov said.
Learning about various Russian locations where North Koreans were getting battle-ready were identified and struck with artillery, Business Insider quoted him as saying.
North Korean soldiers in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a treaty on the country's strategic partnership with North Korea which includes a mutual defence provision, enacting it into law.
The accord, announced by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June after a summit in Pyongyang, calls on each side to come to the other's aid in case of an armed attack. The decree making the partnership law appeared on an official website outlining legislative procedures. The treaty was ratified by Russia's parliament.
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"We have numerous reports of North Korean soldiers preparing to participate in combat operations alongside Russian Forces," Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Facebook on Saturday. Syrskyi said the situation in front-line sectors of the more than 2-1/2-year-old war with Russia remained "difficult and show signs of escalation".