"A government official in South Korea claimed that North Korea had sent fighter pilots to Vladivostok, a city in Russia's Far East, ahead of the first deployment of its ground troops on Oct. 8, according to TV Chosun.The report said that this move could mean further training of pilots on Russian combat aircraft.If the report is confirmed, Russia will become the first country where North Korean pilots will be stationed outside their country since the Vietnam War. They also previously participated in combat operations in Syria and Egypt during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.A Western official told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 15 that 10,000 North Korean soldiers had already been sent to Russia. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence service, put the number at 11,000 and said they would be "ready to fight" by Nov.

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https://kyivindependent.com/north-korea-has-sent-pilots-to-russia-to-join-its-war-in-ukraine-media-reports/