Stop 'watching': Zelenskyy chides West for standing by as North Korean troops arrive in Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on allies to stop “watching” and take action as North Korean troops arrive in Russia.

He has warned that the troops could soon join Moscow’s fight against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy raised the possibility of a preemptive strike on training camps for North Korean soldiers but said Kyiv would need approval from Western allies to use long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia.

“Instead…America is watching, Britain is watching, Germany is watching. Everyone is just waiting for the North Korean military to start attacking Ukrainians as well,” Zelenskyy had posted on Telegram on Friday (November 1)

The Biden administration said Thursday (October 31) that approximately 8,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine’s border to assist Kremlin forces.

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Ukraine’s military intelligence agency GUR reported Saturday (November 2) that over 7,000 North Koreans, armed with Russian equipment, had been transported to areas near Ukraine, where they are undergoing training at five locations in Russia’s Far East.

Western leaders have described the deployment as a serious escalation that could destabilise relations in the Indo-Pacific and potentially lead to technology transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang. That, in turn, could bolster North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have pressed for permission to use Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike targets such as arms depots and airfields far from the front lines.

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US defence officials have expressed concerns about escalating tensions and argued that Ukraine’s existing long-range drones are sufficient for these operations.

Moscow has consistently signalled that it would regard such strikes as a severe provocation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned on September 12 that Russia would consider itself at war with the US and Nato if Western countries authorised strikes on targets inside Russian territory.

Meanwhile, Kyiv endured five hours of air raid sirens early Saturday as Russian drones targeted the capital, sparking a fire in an office building and injuring two people, according to city officials.

With inputs from agencies