Ukraine will be forced to fight against North Korea – Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on partners to put more pressure on Russia and provide greater support to Ukraine in light of the North Korean military's likely entry into a war against Ukraine in the coming days.

Source: President's evening address

Quote from Zelenskyy: "Each day of war proves that Moscow is determined to continue its aggression. They (the Russians – ed.) don't want anything else. And that is why they are trying to increase their arms production, and that is why they are bypassing sanctions. And that is why they are increasingly considering North Korea an ally, and their soldiers may be on the battlefield against Ukraine any day now. Ukraine will be forced actually to fight against North Korea in Europe.

These are conditions where the lack of stronger decisions by partners to support Ukraine only encourages Putin to invest further in terror.

The world can stop the war from unfolding. Abstractions and words are not enough. Concrete steps are needed. We have provided all such steps in the Victory Plan. These steps will prevent the perpetrators of the war from becoming even more aggressive. We expect greater pressure on Russia. We expect more support for Ukraine. And it will be fair."

Details: Zelenskyy announced that the next week would be a time of "very active work with partners to support our soldiers at the front and for the sake of our strategy to force Russia to end the war."

"We are preparing [to announce] important signals of support [for Ukraine]," the president said.

Background:

• On 8 October, the South Korean Ministry of Defence said that North Korea was likely to send some of its regular armed forces to Ukraine to support Russia.
• On 13 October, President Zelenskyy stated that North Korea was supplying Russia not only with weapons but also with military personnel, and called on partners to increase aid for Ukraine. 
• On 17 October, Zelenskyy specified that Russia intended to involve about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea in the war against Ukraine.
• On 18 October, Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, confirmed that about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen were currently undergoing training in Russia’s east. They will be ready to take part in combat actions against Ukraine as early as 1 November. 
• On Wednesday, South Korean intelligence reported that Pyongyang had sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support Russian forces in their war against Ukraine and was also trying to isolate the families of selected soldiers in a certain place to prevent information from spreading.
• The first North Korean military units that have undergone training at training grounds in Russia’s east have arrived in the war zone. They were spotted in Kursk Oblast of Russia on 23 October.

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