Confirming that his troops have engaged with North Korean soldiers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging the international community to help his country fight Russia.

[Sound bite: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Ukrainian-English)]
“The first battles with North Korean soldiers open a new page of instability in the world. Together with the world, we must do everything to make this Russian step to expand the war — to really escalate it — to make this step a failure. Both for them, and for North Korea.”

Speaking in his nightly video address on Tuesday, he thanked the countries that have reacted to the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia.

In an interview with KBS earlier this week, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said his troops have engaged in “small-scale” fighting with North Korean troops.  

Another Kyiv official said the Ukrainian army carried out an artillery attack against North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region.