North Korean soldiers deployed to the Kursk region of Russia have begun combat operations against Ukrainian troops, the U.S. State Department confirmed Tuesday.

Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with a sophisticated combination of missiles and drones for the first time in 73 days on Wednesday, authorities reported, as the Pentagon said most of the North Korean troops sent to help Moscow's war effort are fighting to drive Ukraine's army off Russian soil in the Kursk border

North Korean troops have begun engaging in combat operations alongside Russian forces, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday, expressing concern that Russia had turned to North Korea for soldiers to fight in its war with Ukraine.

Russia has amassed a large force of tens of thousands — including recently arrived North Korean troops — to carry out an assault on the Ukrainian positions in Russia’s Kursk region expected in the coming days,

"Today I can confirm that over 10,000 (North Korean) soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,

Nearly all would raise their hands to go, ex-military defectors explain, owing to regime loyalty, promise of higher status and a glimpse of the outside world.

North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat operations against Ukraine alongside their Russian allies, South Korea's spy agency said on Wednesday. Seoul's confirmation comes amid growing global criticism as the two countries strengthen military ties,

North Korean soldiers, who were previously sent to Russia, are now in Kursk Oblast and are "already engaging in combat" operations against Ukraine. Source: Yonhap, citing South Korea's spy agency Details: The intelligence service reported that "North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia have moved to Kursk Oblast over the past two weeks and their deployment to battlefields has been completed".