South Korea’s state intelligence agency said some of the North Korean troops in Russia have fought against Ukraine alongside Russia’s airborne brigade and marine units.

The National Intelligence Service(NIS) shared the assessment during a closed-door session of the parliamentary Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

According to lawmakers who attended the session, the NIS said some eleven-thousand North Korean soldiers completed acclimation training in Russia’s northeastern region before being sent to Kursk in late October.

While some of the troops dispatched to the front lines in Kursk are undergoing tactical and counter-drone training, it said, others have already participated in combat.

The spy agency said casualties are expected, and that it is in the process of assessing operations and the level of damage suffered by the North Korean troops.

The NIS, meanwhile, has verified that Pyongyang sent additional shipments of howitzers and multiple rocket launchers to Moscow.

Regarding North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month, the agency believes they held sensitive discussions.