Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called has called on partners to lift restrictions on Kyiv's range in response to Russia's sending of North Korean troops to participate in the war against Ukraine.

“For weeks, Ukraine has been warning that Russia prepares to deploy North Korean units. We haven’t seen strong response. Now NATO Secretary General confirmed this. The bottom line: listen to Ukraine. The solution: lift restrictions on our long-range strikes against Russia now,” Sybiha said on X.

Earlier on Monday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the deployment of North Korean military units in Kursk region of the Russian Federation and said that support for Ukraine would be increased.

On October 23, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said there was evidence that North Korean troops were in Russia, and it was not yet known what they would do there.

Earlier, head of the Main Intelligence Agency (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, stated that the first North Korean troops would arrive in Kursk region of Russia, where they would assist the Russian army.

On October 15, sources in Ukrainian military intelligence told the Interfax-Ukraine agency that Russian occupiers had formed a "special Buryat battalion" staffed by citizens of the DPRK; 18 North Korean servicemen had already fled from their positions on the border of Ukraine with Bryansk and Kursk regions of the Russian Federation. Sources in the GUR reported the formation of a "special Buryat battalion" staffed by citizens of the DPRK in the 11th Air Assault Brigade of the Russian occupation army. The estimated number of personnel is up to 3,000 people.

Earlier, Budanov, in a comment to The War Zone, said that about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen are currently training to participate in the war in Ukraine in the east of the Russian Federation; they will be ready by November 1. The head of the GUR said that the first group of 2,600 soldiers would go to Kursk region, where Ukraine had created a bridgehead. It is not yet known where the remaining North Korean soldiers will go.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha expressed confidence that the Kremlin wants to use the DPRK military in armed aggression against Ukraine as "cannon fodder". According to him, the participation of the DPRK military in the Russian war against Ukraine is a huge threat to further escalation, we are talking about the scaling of armed aggression by the Russian Federation.

In turn, South Korean intelligence confirmed that the DPRK had already sent 1,500 special forces to the Russian Federation to participate in the war with Ukraine.