KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 Ukrainian troops have for the first time engaged with North Korean units that were recently deployed to help Russia in the war with its neighbor, Ukraine's defense minister said Tuesday.
Another Kyiv official said Ukraine's army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in .
The comments were the first official reports that Ukrainian and North Korean forces have engaged in combat, following a deployment that has given a new complexion as it approaches its 1,000-day milestone.
Neither claim could be independently confirmed.
The Ukrainian and North Korean troops engaged in 鈥渟mall-scale鈥 fighting that amounted to the start of Pyongyang鈥檚 direct involvement in Europe鈥檚 biggest conflict since World War II, Ukraine鈥檚 Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korea鈥檚 public broadcaster KBS in an interview.
North Korean soldiers are mixed with Russian troops and are misidentified on their uniforms, Umerov was quoted as saying by KBS. That makes it hard to say whether there were any North Korean casualties, he said.
Umerov reportedly said he expects that five North Korean units, each consisting of about 3,000 soldiers, will be deployed to the Kursk area.
Meanwhile, Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine鈥檚 Security Council, said 鈥渢he first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region.鈥
He provided no further details.
Western governments had expected that the North Korean soldiers would be sent to Russia鈥檚 Kursk border region, where a 3-month-old incursion by the Ukrainian army is the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II and has embarrassed the Kremlin.
U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by Pyongyang to the war .
The Pentagon said Monday that at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers were .
More troops from North Korea鈥檚 1.3-million-strong army may be slated for deployment in Russia, according to an analysis published Tuesday by the European Council on Foreign Relations, an international think tank.
The ramifications extend far beyond Europe, it said.
鈥淒espite integration challenges 鈥 including communication barriers and differing military doctrines 鈥 the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia represents a significant shift in European and Asian security relations,鈥 the analysis said. 鈥淔or the first time in generations, troops from East Asia are actively engaging in a European conflict.鈥
The North Korean troops, whose fighting quality and battle experience is unknown, are adding to Ukraine鈥檚 worsening situation on the battlefield.
Ukrainian defenses, especially in the eastern Donetsk region, are buckling under the strain of Russia鈥檚 costly but relentless monthslong onslaught.
Russian advances have recently accelerated, with battlefield gains of up to 9 kilometers (more than 5 miles) in some parts of Donetsk, the U.K. Defense Ministry said Tuesday on the social platform X.
It said Russia has superior troop numbers, and despite heavy casualties the Kremlin鈥檚 recruitment drive is providing enough new troops to keep up the pressure.
Russia has held the battlefield initiative in Ukraine for the past year. Ukrainian officials that Western military support takes too long to arrive in the country.
In early October, Russian forces , a town perched atop a tactically significant hill in eastern Ukraine.
It was part of a key belt of Ukrainian defenses in the east. Russia鈥檚 next targets likely are the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk and the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar.
In the meantime, Russia has kept up its long-range aerial attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine, authorities say.
A Tuesday morning attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed six people and injured 23 others, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.
The head of Ukraine鈥檚 presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said the Russian attacks 鈥渕ust be stopped with strong action.鈥
鈥淎 stronger position by (Ukraine鈥檚 Western) allies is needed,鈥 he wrote on Telegram.
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