North Korean soldiers filmed being equipped in Russia ahead of likely deployment to Ukraine

In a video shared with ITV News' US partner CNN, North Korean soldiers can be seen receiving uniforms and equipment at a training ground in Russia

North Korean soldiers have been filmed receiving uniforms and equipment at a training ground in Russia.

The footage, shared with ITV News' US partner CNN, appears to confirm earlier reports that more than a thousand soldiers have been sent over for military training in order to be deployed in Ukraine.

Last week, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said it had confirmed that North Korea had sent 1,500 special operation forces to Russia to support the war against Ukraine.

It called for the immediate withdrawal of the troops and summoned the Russian ambassador to protest deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

The North Korean troops are thought to be receiving training before being sent to the front line in Ukraine.

Upon arriving in Russia, the North Korean recruits have been asked to fill out a questionnaire providing their sizing for hats, headgear, uniforms, and shoes.

In a copy of the questionnaire shared with CNN, the top of the form is written in Russian while the various size options are written in Korean.

In the video, the soldiers are thought to be speaking Korean, although the low-quality audio prevented their discussions from being fully understood.

Another video circulating on social media, geolocated by CNN, showed troops arriving at the Sergeevka Training Ground close to Russia’s border with China.

In the video, a Russian speaker can be heard in the background saying “we can’t film them,” before adding: “There are more…there are millions of them here. Here are the new reinforcements. This is just the beginning. There are more.”

This evidence appears to confirm Kyiv’s long-held concern that North Korea has been readying itself for a more direct role in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had repeatedly sounded the alarm regarding Russia and North Korea’s deepening alliance, telling a NATO summit that “thousands” of North Korean troops were on their way to Russia.

“From intelligence that I have … they are preparing 10,000 soldiers, different soldiers, land forces, technical personnel,” Zelensky told reporters, describing it as an “urgent” development he had raised with the US.

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This could mark the first time North Korea makes a significant intervention in an international conflict. North Korea has one of the world’s largest militaries with 1.2 million soldiers, but many of its troops lack combat experience.

Multiple governments have accused Pyongyang of supplying arms to Moscow for its grinding war in Ukraine - a charge both countries have denied, despite significant evidence of such transfers.

The two nations have forged increasingly warm ties since Russia’s invasion.

During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the North Korean capital in June, the two countries pledged to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event the other is attacked.

Putin said during that trip that the two countries were ramping up ties to a “new level.”

In remarks ahead of talks between the two, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un voiced his “full support and solidarity with the struggles of the Russian government, military and the people,” pointing specifically to Moscow’s war in Ukraine “to protect its own sovereignty, safety and territorial stability.”

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