**North Korea Deploys Additional Troops to Russia, South Korean Intelligence Claims**
South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) has claimed that North Korea has deployed additional troops to Russia. An official from Seoul’s spy agency told AFP on February 27 that “some additional troop deployments have taken place” in the Kursk Oblast region of Russia.
The exact number of new troops being sent into Russia is not known, with the NIS official stating that the “exact scale is still being assessed.” The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims made by the National Intelligence Agency.
**Background on North Korean Troops**
Up to 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to support Russian forces in countering a Ukrainian incursion launched in August 2024. Ukraine’s special forces spokesperson confirmed that North Korean troops had been pulled from the front, and Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov denied reports that North Korean soldiers have not been seen on the front line for weeks.
However, Budanov noted that the number of North Korean troops has decreased, and Ukraine is trying to establish why. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on February 14 that North Korean troops fighting for Russia against Ukraine have suffered 4,000 casualties, two-thirds of whom have been killed.
**Ukraine’s Military Situation**
Amid the grueling offensive, Ukraine has continued to lose territory initially gained in the surprise Kursk incursion. Russia has claimed to have regained control of about 64% of the territory captured by Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified.
**Other Developments**
Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court ordered a full recount of the country’s October 2024 parliamentary election results on February 26 following an audit that discovered various voting discrepancies.
The Romanian Prosecutor General‘s office has charged pro-Russian Calin Georgescu with “incitement to actions against the constitutional order” and other alleged crimes related to the November 24 first-round elections.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on February 26 that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO as part of a future peace agreement with Russia and ruled out lifting sanctions on Moscow before a deal is reached.
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