Engineers said to be supporting missile launches and reports of North Koreans killed near Donetsk

North Korean military engineers have been deployed to help Russia target Ukraine with ballistic missiles, and North Koreans operating in occupied areas of Ukraine have already been killed, senior officials in Kyiv and Seoul said.

There are dozens of North Koreans behind Russian lines, in teams that “support launcher systems for KN-23 missiles”, a source in Ukraine told the Guardian.

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, last year travelled to Russia for a summit with Vladimir Putin where the two men bolstered their deepening ties with a secret arms deal.

Pyongyang’s ammunition shipments were vital in allowing Russian forces to advance in a grinding war of attrition in eastern Ukraine this summer. But it appears increasingly clear that the agreement went beyond supplying materiel.

  • illi@lemm.ee
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    22 days ago

    Not until there are NATO boots on the ground, or NATO recognizes it is at war. Russia is already saying it is, NATO just didn’t get the memo yet I guess.

    You are right in saying Russia kinda made it a world war. I guess with just the one front it just doesn’t feel like it.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      It could be pretty easily argued that Gaza/Lebanon is another front. Iran/Russia/China axis seems to be solidifying to an extent, imo.

      Israel did just bomb a Russian airbase in Syria, after all.

      Edit: guess I didn’t say “Israel is bad” enough in my comment? Seriously, I didn’t even make any value judgments in this comment, y’all are too touchy.

    • Yeah, the lack of boots on the ground is an important loophole. It’s just arms sales.

      Indians fighting in Ukraine? I thought most of those were tricked into helping the Russian military though…