The U.S. Department of Defense said North Korea has sent around ten-thousand troops to Russia and some of them have already moved closer to Ukraine. 

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday that Washington believes the North has sent about ten-thousand troops to eastern Russia for training, and that they will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the “next several weeks.” 

Last week, the U.S. estimated that North Korea had sent about three-thousand troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

The spokesperson said that as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has already warned, if North Korean soldiers enter the battlefield, they will be considered combat troops and legitimate military targets.

Singh also said the use of North Korean soldiers will have serious implications for the security of the Indo-Pacific region, adding that Washington will not impose any new limits on the use of American weapons by Ukraine’s forces if North Korea enters the fight.