Ukraine war: Vladimir Putin poised to send 10,000 North Korean troops to Ukraine frontline

Ukraine is facing the threat of a huge influx of North Korean troops who are being trained by Russia’s army.

At least 10,000 soldiers from the Pyongyang regime are understood to be taking part in manoeuvres before an expected deployment in regions close to the Ukrainian border.

The Kremlin is said to have paid North Korea to send personnel to the front in a deal struck on president Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Kim Jong Un.

North Korea, like Iran, is also reported to be supplying weaponry and ammunition.

The suggestions emerged as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled his blueprint for liberating Ukraine, calling Russia and its allies as a “coalition of criminals”.

Observers say Ukraine’s president faces an uphill struggle to convince Western allies to back his Victory Plan.

This includes requests, already declined in recent weeks, such as immediate entry to NATO and permission to fire long-range Western weapons into Russia.

Aspects, which may relate to battlefield strategies, were not disclosed for security reasons.

President Zelensky claimed it was a “plan to strengthen our state and our position, to be strong enough to end the war, to make sure that Ukraine has all its muscles”.

But Ukraine opposition MP Oleksii Honcharenko described the proposal as “empty words, removed from reality”.