31.He said the messages were passed through the country's intelligence."The Russian Federation at the level of intelligence confirmed that North Korea is involved (in the war) ... (Russia) has been talking about this with the West."North Korea had sent troops to Russia to participate in its war against Ukraine and deployed them in Kursk Oblast, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as well as the Pentagon, confirmed on Oct. 28."Two states are officially at war against Ukraine. The military is officially involved. This is not just the transfer of artillery shells, assistance with the appropriate number of missiles, or the involvement of technical personnel working at factories," Zelensky said.Some 3,000 North Korean troops are already in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Meanwhile, Kyiv expects their number to increase to 12,000, Zelensky said.The president said that some of the North Korean military is also located in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories without specifying the region.There have been no clashes between the North Korean and Ukrainian military so far, but this is "a matter of days, not months," according to Zelensky.