Ukrainian intelligence authorities have reportedly predicted that North Korea will deploy more than 30-thousand additional troops to Russia within a few months and could participate in a joint military exercise with Russia and Belarus in September. 

The British daily the Times issued the report on Monday, citing a report from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence.

In the report, Ukrainian intelligence authorities also assessed that North Korea’s conventional and nuclear military capabilities have significantly improved since its troops have been deployed to Russia for its war against Ukraine. 

South Korea believes North Korea sent eleven-thousand troops to Russia in October last year and about three-thousand additional troops between January and February this year. 

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang last month, said Kim intends to send six-thousand military personnel to Russia’s Kursk region to help rebuild and demine the war-torn area.