In a chilling Telegram post late Friday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounded the alarm over an imminent new threat: the deployment of North Korean troops to fight alongside Russian forces. With over 7,000 North Korean soldiers now reported to be stationed near Ukraine’s border, equipped with Russian weapons and gear, Zelenskyy urgently called on Ukraine’s allies to stop merely “watching” and take decisive action before it’s too late.
North Korea’s Growing Role in Russia’s War Against Ukraine
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, the North Korean troops have been transported to five locations in Russia’s far east, where they are undergoing training before being deployed to the front lines in Ukraine. The move marks a significant escalation in the conflict and could have far-reaching implications for regional stability and global security.
Western leaders have warned that the North Korean deployment could open the door to dangerous technology transfers from Moscow to Pyongyang, further advancing the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs. The strengthening ties between the two pariah states have also raised concerns about a potential shift in the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.
Zelenskyy’s Plea for Preemptive Action
In his Telegram post, Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine knows the locations of the camps where the North Korean troops are being trained and suggested that a preemptive strike could be necessary to prevent them from reaching the battlefield. However, he noted that Ukraine cannot take such action without permission from its allies to use western-made long-range weapons to hit targets deep inside Russia.
“But instead … America is watching, Britain is watching, Germany is watching. Everyone is just waiting for the North Korean military to start attacking Ukrainians as well,” Zelenskyy lamented.
The Ukrainian president’s plea underscores the growing frustration among Ukrainian leaders, who have repeatedly called on their allies to provide them with the means to strike Russian military infrastructure far from the border. They argue that such capabilities are necessary to motivate Russia to seek peace and end the conflict on terms favorable to Ukraine.
Escalating Violence and Heavy Losses
As the prospect of North Korean reinforcements looms, the fighting in Ukraine has only grown more intense. On Saturday, Ukraine’s top commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, described the current Russian offensive as “one of the most powerful” since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Syrskyi’s statement, posted on Telegram after a call with a top Czech military official, hinted at the heavy losses Ukrainian units are suffering as they struggle to hold back the Russian onslaught. He emphasized that the ongoing battles “require constant renewal of resources,” underscoring the immense strain on Ukraine’s military.
Civilian Casualties Continue to Mount
As the fighting rages on, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence. Russian missiles struck Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv overnight into Saturday, killing a police officer and injuring dozens more. In the southern Kherson province, Russian shelling killed a 40-year-old woman and wounded three others, including two children, while another resident was injured in a drone attack later that day.
The central Dnipropetrovsk region also came under fire, with five more civilians, including two children, sustaining injuries. In the capital city of Kyiv, residents endured more than five hours of air raid sirens early Saturday morning as Russian drones attacked, sparking a fire in a downtown office block and injuring two people.
The Road Ahead
As the war in Ukraine enters a new and even more dangerous phase, with the specter of North Korean involvement now looming large, the international community faces a critical moment of decision. Will Ukraine’s allies heed Zelenskyy’s urgent call to action, or will they continue to stand by and watch as the conflict spirals further out of control?
The stakes could not be higher, not only for Ukraine but for the entire world. The deployment of North Korean troops to the battlefield would represent a major victory for Russia and a serious blow to the rules-based international order. It would also set a dangerous precedent, emboldening other authoritarian regimes to pursue their own aggressive ambitions with impunity.
For Ukraine, the consequences of inaction are even more dire. Without the means to defend itself against the combined might of Russia and North Korea, the country could face a devastating defeat, with untold human suffering and the loss of its hard-won sovereignty and independence.
As the world watches and waits, the fate of Ukraine — and perhaps the future of the global order — hangs in the balance. The time for decisive action is now, before it’s too late.
