NEW YORK - North Korean troops have engaged in clashes against Ukrainian forces fighting in the Russian Kursk region, The New York Times reported late on Nov 5, citing an unnamed senior US official and an unnamed senior Ukrainian official.

       The engagement was limited, the Ukrainian official told the newspaper, and likely meant to probe the Ukrainian lines for weaknesses. The Ukrainian official added that the North Korean troops fought together with Russia’s 810 Separate Naval Infantry Brigade.

       Reuters could not independently verify the New York Times report.

       The office of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, the Russian Defence Ministry, the Pentagon and the US Department of State did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

       Ukrainian troops launched an incursion into Russia’s border Kursk region in August, taking a number of settlements under control in the first such deployment into the Russian territory since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.

       The Pentagon said on Nov 4 that there were at least 10,000 North Korean troops in Kursk but could not corroborate reports that they were engaged in combat.

       Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said in an interview with South Korean television, broadcast on Nov 5, that the first engagement had occurred with North Korean troops.

       The New York Times reported that it was unclear when the fighting took place. The US official told the newspaper that a significant number of North Korean troops were killed.

       Mr Zelensky said on Nov 5 in his nightly address that the first battles between the Ukrainian military and North Korean troops have opened “a new page in instability in the world”. REUTERS