Kiev [Ukraine], July 26: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expects North Korea to provide Russia with further troops and heavy weapons for its war against Ukraine, he said in his nightly video address on Saturday.
Among other things, he said Russia was preparing to station a further 30,000 North Korean soldiers in the Voronezh region. Pyongyang also intended to deliver additional launch pads for ballistic missiles to Russia, he said.
Zelensky said this was part of Moscow's war planning for the coming autumn. According to Ukrainian intelligence assessments cited by Zelensky in his video, Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to have no intention of seeking peace.
Zelensky described the planned North Korean support for Moscow as a threat above all to Asia.
"Russia is helping North Korea to learn how to wage war, improve their weapons - giving them experience of real weapon use," he said. "All this is a threat to everyone in Asia who is within the range of North Korean missiles."
North Korea had already contributed up to 15,000 soldiers to Russia's war against Ukraine the previous year. The soldiers helped Moscow recapture territory in the Kursk region that Ukraine had seized in a surprise offensive. According to unconfirmed estimates, at least 2,000 North Koreans were killed.
Moscow and Pyongyang are bound by a strategic partnership treaty. The foreign ministers of both countries reaffirmed the close partnership between their nations just days ago.
Source: Qatar Tribune