North Korea Reportedly Sending Scores Of Disguised Troops To Fight Alongside Russian Forces

North Korea is reportedly getting ready to send swaths of troops to fight alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, South Korea and Kyiv warned on Thursday and Friday.

The Russia-Ukraine war has dragged on for years and shown no signs of slowing down, even as neither side has made significant advances or moved the needle toward victory. South Korea’s intelligence agency alleged on Friday that North Korea, a close ally of Russia, has already deployed some 1,500 special forces to aid Russia in the war against Ukraine, and more troops are to come, according to multiple reports.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) “confirmed that North Korea began its participation in the war by transporting special forces to Russia via Russian Navy transport ships from Oct. 8 to 13,” according to South Korean media. “They are expected to be sent to the battlefield once they complete their adaptation training.”

A fleet of naval vessels with the 1,500 soldiers aboard departed from North Korea to Russia during the Oct. 8 to Oct. 13 timeframe, according to South Korean media. A second deployment is “expected to take place soon,” the NIS said.

The North Korean operatives were given Russian military uniforms, weapons and fake identification documents, according to NIS.