Ukraine says it fought N Korean troops for the first time

North Korean soldiers have clashed with Ukrainian troops for the first time, top Ukrainian officials have revealed.

In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said a “small group” of North Korean soldiers were attacked.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who had previously condemned the West’s lack of response to the North Korean troops, said these “first battles with North Korea open a new chapter of instability in the world”.

However, Seoul said it “does not believe (troops on either side) were involved in direct combat” but that there was an “incident” involving a small number of North Korean soldiers “near the front line”.

Ukraine says an estimated 11,000 North Korean troops were in the border region of Kursk, where Ukrainian troops are based.

In recent weeks, South Korean and US intelligence agencies as well as Nato have said they have seen evidence that North Korean troops are involved in Russia’s war.

But Moscow and Pyongyang have so far not responded directly to either claim.

Ukraine’s top counter-disinformation official, Andriy Kovalenko, first said in a Telegram post on Monday that North Korea’s “first military units… (had) already come under fire in Kursk”.

In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, Rustem Umerov confirmed this, saying that he expects a “significant number” of the North Korean troops to be involved in combat, although he added that “so far it was only small contacts, not full-scale engagement”.

Most of them are still in training, he added.

“They wear Russian uniforms, they undergo tactical training and they are deployed under different commands of the Russian army in the front lines,” Umerov said.

He said it was likely that five units, each consisting of about 3,000 soldiers, would be deployed across the battlefield.

He did not say if there were any injuries.

In a daily video address on Wednesday, Zelensky called on Ukraine “along with the world… (to do) everything to make this Russian move to expand the war… a failure. Both for them and for North Korea.”

Reports of such a move by North Korea have also alarmed the South, raising tensions between the two sides.

Late last month, Seoul had summoned Russia’s ambassador to seek the “immediate withdrawal” of North Korean troops from Ukraine. It also warned that it was considering supplying weapons directly to Ukraine.

Analysts have said Pyongyang could be paid or could gain access to Russian military technology in exchange for the troops.

On Wednesday, Russian lawmakers will vote to ratify a mutual defense treaty with North Korea that was first proposed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lavish visit to Pyongyang in June.

It promises that Russia and North Korea will help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.