AT LEAST 3,000 North Korean troops are now inside Russia with US officials fearing they have been shipped in to help Putin fight his bloody war against Ukraine.
Many more are yet to come as North Korea aims to deploy a total of 10,000 soldiers by the end of the year, reports claim.
EPATyrant Putin and ruthless dictaoitor Kim Jong-un have been forging a close relationship to form an ‘Axis of Evil’[/caption]
East2WestWorrying new video evidence shows North Korean troops in Russia being kitted out with military equipment before being sent to Kursk[/caption]
ReutersRescuers work at a Ukrainian children’s hospital that was damaged during a Russian missile strikes[/caption]
AFPA handout from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) shows what it claims to be North Korean troops were gathered at Russia’s Ussuriysk military facility[/caption]
The US revealed on Wednesday that at least 3,000 soldiers have put their boots on Putin’s land after Ukraine’s military intelligence claimed North Korean troops were to help push back its forces.
And the US now appear to back this claim, with US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirming it’s a “high concerning probability” the North Korean soldiers are there to fight.
He warned: “After completing training, these soldiers could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military.”
Earlier on Wednesday Defense Secretary Austin warned that if this were the case, it would be a “very, very serious issue”.
He believes the then-alleged North Korean deployment could be due to an embarrassing shortage of Russian recruits.
Austin said: “This is an indication that he [Putin] may be even in more trouble than most people realize.
“He went tin cupping early on to get additional weapons and materials from DPRK and then from Iran.
“And now he’s making a move to get more people — if that is the case, if these troops are designed to be a part of the fight in Ukraine.”
The US determined the North Korean soldiers were transported via ship in October from the Wonsan region to the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.
Tyrant Putin and ruthless dictator Kim Jong-un have been forging a close relationship to form what has been dubbed an “Axis of evil” against the West.
And Pyongyang is now committed to helping out the desperate Russian leader to win his meatgrinder war against Ukraine.
Dramatic videos from the Far East of Russia allegedly shows Kim’s soldiers being given battlefield equipment and taking part in strict military training.
One video being shared online is said to feature a voice saying: “The handsome allied soldiers from North Korea have arrived.
“I hope the war will now end.”
East2WestFootage purportedly shows North Korean troops in eastern Russia undergoing training ahead of deployment[/caption]
AFPNorth Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un posing with troops during an inspection at a training base on October 2[/caption]
AFPNorth Korean troops taking part in training at a base of the Korean People’s Army’s special operations forces at an undisclosed location in North Korea[/caption]
Russia and North Korea have so far denied the troop movements.
Pyongyang said reports of them sending troops abroad are simply “groundless rumours”.
Despite Kim’s cronies brushing off the claims, South Korean intelligence reports that troops are being issued fake military IDs before being shipped off to Siberian regions like Yakutia and Buryatia.
‘DON’T DIE ON FOREIGN SOIL’
Ukraine has asked North Korean troops to surrender rather than die for their dictator.
A message written in both Korean and Russian says: “We appeal to the fighters of the Korean People’s Army not to die senselessly on foreign soil.
“You should not repeat the fate of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who will never return home.
“Surrender now and Ukraine will shelter you, feed you and warm you.”
A video shared by Kyiv’s forces shows a PoW camp built to accommodate North Korean troops who choose to surrender.
It says: “The prisoners of war in the camp will be kept in large, warm and bright rooms with separate sleeping quarters.
“They will receive three meals a day, including meat, fresh vegetables and bread.”
DESPERATE VLAD
Officials have also detected signs that North Korea is relocating family members of soldiers chosen to be sent to Russia to special sites to isolate them.
World leaders say if North Korean troops are seen in Ukraine then it would be a clear sign of desperation from a paranoid Vlad.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb told Reuters: “We’re just seeing how desperate Russia is.
“Its allies are not too many around this world.
“It relies on Iranian weapons, it relies on North Korean soldiers. How much worse can it get?”
It comes as the North Korean despot has also been supplying tens of thousands of containers of weapons to Russia for its illegal invasion.
Kim has sent 13,000 shipping containers carrying arms to Russia for the war over a two-year period, one South Korean minister said.
Ammunition supplies are critical for Russia to continue prosecuting its war and killing innocent Ukrainians.
In January, Russia used North Korean missiles to blitz Ukraine for the first time killing at least 50 people.
At the end of last month, small North Korean tanks, named Bulsae-4, were even spotted fighting in Ukraine.
North Korea has denied supplying the Kremlin with ballistic missiles and artillery shells.
But reports say Kim has even pledged to send 15,000 tunnellers to Ukraine to dig a Hamas-style underground front.
Russia is using “dark” ships with their GPS turned off so they can’t be tracked to ship some of the containers.
In return, Putin is said to be protecting his pal at the UN by vetoing bodies supposed to enforce the sanctions against North Korea.
EPARescuers work at the site of a damaged building after a missile strike in Kyiv[/caption]
ReutersA drone view shows residential buildings destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Ukraine[/caption]