From PBS NewsHour.

Earlier this year, North Korea and Russia signed a mutual defense pact saying that if one country is attacked, the other will come to its aid. As early as October, North Korean soldiers began traveling to Russia to be trained. Western intelligence agencies estimate there are about 11,000 North Korean troops currently in Russia.

PBS News special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky has reported from Ukraine for more than a decade. Through his sources, he has what is the first, apparent hard evidence of North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia’s Kursk province, parts of which Ukraine has controlled since it invaded this summer.

Warning: This report contains graphic images.

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