Zelenskyi says that the war with Russia goes “beyond the borders” because North Korea is joining it

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Tuesday that thousands of North Korean soldiers, who are expected to reinforce Russian forces on the front lines in Ukraine, are taking the nearly three-year-old war beyond the borders of the warring parties.

Western leaders say North Korea sent about 10,000 troops to help Russia’s military campaign and warned that its involvement in the European war could also upset relations in the Indo-Pacific region, including with Japan and Australia.

NORTH KOREA AND RUSSIA CAUSES A POLITICAL SHOCK WITH MILITARY OPERATIONS IN UKRAINE

Zelenskyi said he had spoken with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and told him that 3,000 North Korean soldiers were already stationed at military bases near the Ukrainian front line, and that he expected their deployment to increase to 12,000.

At the Pentagon on Tuesday, spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said a “relatively small number” of North Korean troops are now in Russia’s Kursk region, where Russian forces are trying to repel the Ukrainian invasion, and several thousand more are headed in that direction.

South Korea, which has been in close contact with NATO, the United States and the European Union over the latest developments, warned last week that it could send weapons to Ukraine in retaliation for North Korea’s intervention.

“One conclusion is that this war is internationalized and goes beyond the borders” of Ukraine and Russia, Zelenskyy wrote in Telegram.

The Ukrainian president also said that he and Yun agreed to intensify cooperation between their countries and exchange intelligence, as well as to develop specific responses to Pyongyang’s interference.

In Washington, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Zelenskyi’s top adviser on Tuesday to discuss North Korean troops as well as an upcoming surge in weapons the US is supplying to Kyiv to help Ukrainians strengthen defenses of their energy infrastructure, reports said. White House officials are familiar with their private negotiations.

Sullivan and the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, shared concerns that North Korean troops could be stationed in Russia’s Kursk region and what such a development could mean for the conflict.

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly, said during the two-hour meeting at the White House that Sullivan also briefed Yermak on President Joe Biden’s plans to transfer additional artillery systems, ammunition, hundreds of armored vehicles and more to Ukraine. leaves the post in January.

Sullivan told Yermak that by the end of the year, the U.S. administration plans to provide Ukraine with 500 additional Patriot and ARAAM missiles to bolster its air defenses, officials said.

Meanwhile, North Korea said its top diplomat is visiting Russia as a sign of deepening their relationship.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have reached their highest level in years, with North Korea continuing a series of provocative weapons tests and South Korea and the United States expanding their military exercises.

Russian drones, missiles and bombs pounded Kiev and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s largest cities, in overnight attacks, killing four people and injuring 15 in a sustained air assault, authorities said on Tuesday.

Russia has bombed civilian areas of Ukraine almost daily since its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, causing thousands of casualties.

The Russian army is also actively opposing the forward defense in the east of the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Russian troops had captured the Donetsk city of Hirnyk and the villages of Katerynivka and Bogoyavlenka.

Zelenskyi also spoke about the war at the meeting on Tuesday in Reykjavik with the leaders of Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. He said that a conference will begin in Canada on Wednesday, at which the issue of the abduction of tens of thousands of children by Russia from the occupied territories of Ukraine will be considered.

Russian aircraft struck Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, around 3 a.m., hitting a house and killing four people, regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said. According to him, about 20 houses were damaged during the attack.

A few hours earlier, Russia dropped a planning bomb on the landmark building of Derzhprom in the center of Kharkiv, injuring seven people, mayor Igor Terekhov said. Derzhprom, also known as the Palace of Industry, is being considered for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

According to Terekhov, in recent days Russia has concentrated its strikes on Kharkiv. He urged people not to ignore air raid warnings.

Kyiv authorities reported that fragments of intercepted Russian drones fell on two districts of the city, injuring six people.

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Ukraine has also used long-range drones to disrupt the Russian military machine and embarrass the Kremlin by striking targets on Russian soil.

A special forces academy in the Russian province of Chechnya was struck by drones, causing a fire that was quickly put out, according to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It was the first drone attack in the war against Chechnya, which is located about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Ukraine.