Pentagon confirms deployment of 12,000 North Korean troops at Ukraine borders

The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that at least 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia to support the Kremlin's war against Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman General Patrick Ryder said this on Tuesday, Ukrinform's own correspondent reports.

"We’re of course concerned about the developing relations between North Korea and Russia, as evidenced by the fact that they’ve deployed upwards of 12,000 troops into Russia to support their (Russian - ed.) invasion of Ukraine," the U.S. defense department spokesman noted.

He stressed that the United States takes this seriously and will monitor the developments, as well as cooperate with regional partners to respond to these threats.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Pentagon previously estimated that Russia had involved more than 11,000 North Korean soldiers. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Defense emphasized that they see no signs of North Korean troops being involved in hostilities directly in the occupied territory of Ukraine.