Russia rejects reports claiming North Korea offered to send volunteers to Ukraine amid war

The Russian Foreign Ministry has rejected reports that North Korea has offered to participate in the war in Ukraine. Ivan Nechaev, deputy director of the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, called such reports "fake" and stressed that no "such negotiations are ongoing", RIA Novosti reported. 

Nechaev said that North Korea has no plans to send volunteers to Ukraine's breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. The statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry comes after reports claimed that North Korea has proposed to send 100,000 soldiers for boosting Russia's offensive in Ukraine. 

Ivan Nechaev emphasised that Russian soldiers' combat capabilities along with the troops of the people's militia of the DPR and LPR are "quite enough" to achieve the goal of "special military operation," as per the RIA Novosti report. His statement comes after Russia’s military expert Igor Korotchenko claimed that North Korea has expressed willingness to deploy 100,000 for strengthening the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"There are reports that 1,00,000 North Korean volunteers are prepared to come and take part in the conflict," New York Post had quoted Korotchenko as saying, citing Russian One Channel. He emphasised that Russia should allow North Korea to participate in the conflict if they express willingness to fight against "Ukrainian fascism." Notably, the war between Russia and Ukraine continues unabated for over six months. 

North Korea preparing to send workers to Donbas: Report 

Meanwhile, a separate report by Daily NK stated that North Korea has selected the workers that it will send to pro-Russian regions in eastern Ukraine, Donbass for rebuilding the region. A source told the media outlet that the authorities had instructed companies functioning in Russia to be ready to dispatch workers to Ukraine.

Reportedly, North Korean authorities have been intending to deploy more than a thousand workers to Ukraine's Donbas region. North Korean authorities have planned to deploy workers who are already in Russia and then send additional workers from North Korea if Russia makes the request. As per the news report, a source revealed that the Overseas Construction Leadership Bureau, the Rungna Guidance Bureau, the Ministry of Fisheries, and the Ministry of Railways have included some of their workers on the waiting list to go to Ukraine. 

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