About three thousand North Korean soldiers have been deployed 50 km from the Ukrainian border in the Kursk region, the Financial Times reports, citing high-ranking representatives of Ukrainian intelligence.
According to the newspaper, the military was secretly transported from the Russian Far East this week.
South Korean intelligence said the first North Korean troops to arrive in Russia in early October were the North Korean army's elite 11th Army Corps, known as the "Storm Corps".
But Ukrainian intelligence questioned the quality and combat effectiveness of the North Korean military. Ukrainian intelligence officers called them "inexperienced low-ranking infantrymen". "They have never left the country before... They have never participated in a real battle and their experience is very far from the reality of modern warfare," the FT quoted a Ukrainian intelligence source as saying.
South Korea, Ukraine and the United States announced the deployment of North Korean troops in October.
According to South Korean intelligence, Pyongyang may send 12 thousand soldiers to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting on reports of sending North Korean troops to Russia, did not deny their presence in Russia, but did not specify the purpose of their arrival.