Russia to deploy 10,000 North Korean troops against Ukraine within ‘weeks’, Pentagon says

Addition of North Korean soldiers will stoke regional tensions and further stretch Ukraine's weary army in the almost three-year war

North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia to train and fight in the Ukraine war within the next several weeks," the Pentagon has said, in a move that western leaders say will intensify the almost three-year war and jolt relations in the region.

Some of the North Korean soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Monday, and were believed to be heading for the Kursk border region, where Russia has been struggling to push back a Ukrainian incursion.