North Korean troops actively fighting alongside Russians, US State Dept says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Pro-Russian troops inspect streets in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 7, 2022. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korean troops have begun engaging in combat operations alongside Russian forces, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday, expressing concern that Russia had turned to North Korea for soldiers to fight in its war with Ukraine.

"Over 10,000 DPRK (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces," State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at a briefing.



(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Daphne Psaledakis, Katharine Jackson)