U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that about eight-thousand North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region and are expected to enter combat against Ukraine “in the coming days.”

Blinken made the remarks during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, after the “two-plus-two” meeting for the defense and foreign policy chiefs of South Korea and the U.S.

He said the most recent information indicates that as many as eight-thousand North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk in southwestern Russia. 

Blinken added that Russia is training the North Korean troops in artillery, drones and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that Russia fully intends to use these forces in front-line operations.

He said the U.S. has not yet seen these troops in combat.