Ukrainian, N-Korean groups get involved in ‘small scale’

(MENAFN) Ukrainian fighting groups “engaged in small scale” with North Korean militaries, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov informed South Korean KBS TV.

If correct, it is initial such engagement since South Korea affirmed in the previous month that Pyongyang had conveyed thousands of militaries to Russia which is in conflict with Ukraine.

“Yes… it is engagement,” Umerov stated when he was asked if it was the initial engagement between rival fighting groups.

However, the Ukrainian defense director, didn’t unveil the setting of the fighting.
Umerov also pointed out that it was not a systematically planned level of engagement with all forces mobilized.

Previously, Andriy Kovalenko, chief of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, affirmed Ukrainian forces involved North Korean fighting groups in Kursk in the first recognized combat.

Though, the US, Kyiv’s key ally, stated that it “cannot corroborate” reports proposing North Korea militaries are dealing with their initial combat in Russia Kursk area.

Pentagon representative Pat Ryder informed journalists on Monday, deploying initials of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea—the formal name of North Korea, that “We believe that there are now at least 10,000 DPRK forces in the Kursk Oblast, recognizing that as we continue to assess DPRK presence on the ground, those numbers could go up slightly in terms of the total number of DPRK troops in Russia."

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