By Ryan Morgan
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Oct. 23 that there’s evidence North Korea has deployed troops to Russia, though why exactly they are there remains unclear.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among the first to flag a suspected North Korean troop deployment to Russia earlier this month.
The Pentagon didn’t immediately back up Zelenskyy’s assessment but has been looking into the issue recently.
Speaking at a press conference during a visit to Rome on Oct. 23, Austin said, “We are seeing evidence” that North Korean troops are in Russia.”
The defense secretary said U.S. analysts are continuing to assess the available information.
“What exactly they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out,” Austin said.
Austin didn’t specify how many North Korean troops have deployed to Russia.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has assessed that as many as 10,000 North Korean troops have deployed, with ships transporting 1,500 North Korean soldiers at a time to Russia’s far-east port city of Vladivostok.
Zelenskyy has suggested that these North Korean troops are preparing to join the war effort in Ukraine alongside Russian forces.
“If they’re co-belligerents, if their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue,” Austin said on Oct. 23.
If North Korean troops do indeed join the fight, they could help offset Russian losses after more than 2 1/2 years of highly attritional fighting that has ground down both sides.
The North Korean troops could assist Russia without entering Ukraine, including by helping Russian forces drive back an ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
Ukrainian forces launched the cross-border operation in August, in an apparent effort to draw Russian troops away from the fighting within Ukraine’s own borders.
The U.S. government is preparing new steps to curb outside support for the Russian war effort.
Speaking at a news conference kicking off the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings on Oct. 22, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the United States is preparing to unveil “strong new sanctions” as early as next week, aimed at third-party countries “supplying Russia with critical inputs for its military.”
Yellen didn’t say which nations and entities would be targeted in the forthcoming sanctions.
Earlier this month, the United States announced sanctions against Chinese companies Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co. and Redlepus Vector Industry Shenzhen Co. for their alleged role in helping develop Russia’s Garpiya family of long-range attack drones.
The U.S. government has also raised the alarm about Iranian weapons transfers to Russia and announced new sanctions in September targeting Iran Air, Vafa Wholesale, and Sea River Service for their alleged role in transferring drones, missiles, munitions, and other military systems for the Russian war effort in Ukraine.
While the United States aims to curb outside support for the Russian side of the conflict, it has been Ukraine’s primary benefactor in the ongoing war and has appropriated around $175 billion in Ukraine-related spending since 2022, when Russian forces first marched on Ukraine.
Austin announced the latest package of U.S. weapons transfers for Ukraine, valued at around $400 million, during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Oct. 21.
The United States and its partners in the Group of Seven (G7) are putting the final touches this week on another plan to provide Ukraine with a $50 billion loan, using frozen Russian assets as collateral.
Yellen said the U.S. contribution to this loan plan will be around $20 billion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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