North Korean and Russian flags allegedly raised in eastern Ukraine

A North Korean flag has been allegedly raised together with a Russian flag in eastern Ukraine, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Oct 22, indicating that North Korean troops may have been deployed to support Russia in its war.

Citing pro-Russian blogger Telegram account @rvvoenkor_bot, Yonhap said both flags were allegedly raised together in Pokrovsk, in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

The Yonhap report added that Pokrovsk is believed to be one of the locations where North Korean soldiers are stationed.

However, Mr Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Security Council’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, dismissed the flags as part of an attempt to intimidate Ukrainians.

Last week, South Korea’s spy agency said

Pyongyang had shipped 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East

for training and acclimatising at local military bases, and that they were likely to be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused North Korea on Oct 17 of deploying officers alongside Russia and preparing to send thousands of troops to help Moscow’s war effort, but Kyiv’s Western allies have yet to confirm its assertion that Pyongyang is sending troops, though they say they are studying it.

However, one of North Korea’s UN representatives on Oct 21 said Seoul’s claims were “groundless rumour”, and that they were aimed at “smearing” North Korea’s image and undermining its relations with Moscow.

Since their summit in the Russian Far East in 2023, North Korea and Russia have dramatically upgraded their military ties, and their leaders met in June to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership that

includes a mutual defence pact

.

The Kremlin has dismissed South Korean assertions that North Korea may have sent some military personnel to help Russia against Ukraine.

However, it said it was Moscow’s sovereign right to develop ties with Pyongyang in all areas.