Russian-language social media has published what could be the first visual evidence of North Korea sending troops for Moscow’s war effort against Ukraine.
The two videos, initially circulated by pro-Kremlin military bloggers on Telegram and picked up by the investigative outlet Agentstvo, show what appear to be phalanxes of what it describes as North Korean troops at a military base.
“There’s millions of them,” a voice can be heard saying in one of the videos in Russian, appearing to be filming secretly.
POLITICO has not been able to independently verify the veracity of the videos or their content.
The videos appeared online as NATO chief Mark Rutte told journalists on Friday that he could not “confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort.”
Citing OSINT experts, Agentstvo reports the video was likely recorded near the village of Sergeyevka in Primorye in Russia’s far east, some 200 kilometers from North Korea.
Rumors about Pyongyang’s involvement have been swirling ever since South Korea issued a public warning that Pyongyang was planning to step up its involvement in the Kremlin’s war machine, from providing artillery to sending up to 12,000 troops.
This week, officials in Kyiv repeated those warnings.
On Friday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said 1,500 special forces troops had already been deployed to Russia.
Commenting on the news of North Korea joining its war last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the reports as “just more fake news.”
