00:00Russian military bloggers are claiming that North Korean soldiers have allegedly crossed
00:15into Ukraine itself for the first time, arriving in the Zaporizhzhia region near the town
00:20of Huliaipol on November 23.
00:23A Russian Telegram channel posted that representatives of friendly DPRK forces had reached the front
00:29line after completing what they described as a two-month training program on Russian military
00:35training grounds.
00:36The blogger wrote cryptically,
00:38After two months of training, representatives of friendly North Korea have arrived at the
00:42front.
00:43Guess the direction.
00:44It's a field and you can walk there.
00:47A reference to Huliaipol, which directly translates from Ukrainian as walkabout field.
00:53However, this claim remains completely unverified.
00:57No photograph, video footage or documentary evidence was provided by Russian sources.
01:03Andrey Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, issued an explicit
01:08denial on November 24, stating,
01:11As of 9-odd AM, Russian information about the appearance of DPRK military personnel in the
01:16Zaporizhzhia direction has not been confirmed.
01:20Western intelligence agencies have issued no statements supporting the claim.
01:23What is confirmed is substantial North Korean military involvement in Russia, not inside Ukraine.
01:30Since late 2024, North Korea has deployed an estimated 10,000-14,000 troops to Russia's
01:37Kursk region under a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty signed by Vladimir Putin and
01:43Kim Jong-un in June 2024.
01:46These forces participated in combat operations against Ukrainian troops who captured territory
01:52in Kursk during a surprise offensive last summer.
01:55In April 2025, both Russia and North Korea officially acknowledged this deployment for the
02:01first time, with Putin praising the North Korean soldiers as heroic and Kim Jong-un announcing
02:08that a monument to the Kursk offensive would be built in Pyongyang.
02:12If confirmed, North Korean troops operating inside Ukraine itself, rather than on Russian
02:18territory defending against a Ukrainian incursion, would represent a significant escalation in
02:23the war.
02:25It would mark the first deployment of foreign troops onto Ukrainian soil to conduct offensive
02:30operations – a development that could trigger stronger responses from NATO and Western allies.
02:36However, analysts urge caution.
02:39Russian military bloggers have previously spread disinformation about encirclements and
02:44breakthroughs that were later debunked by Ukrainian officials.
02:49Regardless of whether this specific claim is accurate, North Korea has become one of Russia's
02:54most critical military partners.
02:57Beyond troop deployments, Pyongyang has supplied massive quantities of artillery shells, ballistic missiles,
03:04and ammunition that have fueled Russia's ongoing offensive operations.
03:09In exchange, Russia has provided North Korea with oil, food, weapons, technology, and missile
03:16assistance to improve performance and precision, helping Pyongyang advance its own military capabilities
03:22despite international sanctions.
03:26Ukrainian soldiers who have encountered North Korean troops describe them as well-prepared and
03:31undaunted, though they have suffered heavy losses.
03:35The question now is whether Russia will eventually deploy these forces offensively into Ukraine,
03:41or whether the Huliaipol claim represents either future planning, psychological operations,
03:47or premature battlefield chatter.
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