An estimated 18 North Korean soldiers have deserted from their positions in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk oblasts near the Ukrainian border, Suspilne reported on Oct. 15, citing unnamed intelligence officials.
Concerns over the deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have escalated dramatically this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 13 that Russia's plans for supporting its full-scale invasion of Ukraine would this autumn include "the actual involvement of North Korea in the war."
A Western diplomat told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 15 that North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia to boost its war efforts against Ukraine.
According to Suspilne's sources, the soldiers deserted around 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
The motive behind their desertion has not yet been established, but the sources said that the Russian military is searching for the soldiers.
Russian commanders are attempting to conceal the soldiers' desertion from their higher-ups, the sources said.
Earlier this year, the two countries signed a mutual defense pact during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang.
As part of the alliance, the North Korean military announced that an engineering unit would join Russian forces on the ground in Donetsk Oblast the following month.
No picture or video evidence has emerged to date that this went ahead.
Putin submitted the treaty, which stipulates that either nation must render military assistance to the other in the event of an attack, to the Russian State Duma for ratification on Oct. 14.
Chris York
(Updated: )
