Washington, 13 November 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Most of the 10,000 North Korean troops sent to Russia to aid it in its fight against Ukraine are already in action in the far western Kursk region, but battlefield success is not guaranteed, a US State Department spokesman said on Tuesday.

Russia’s success on the battlefield using North Korean troops 'will in large part be dictated by how well the Russians can integrate them into their military," said the department's deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel.

"Some of the challenges they would need to overcome are interoperability, the language barrier, command and control, and communications," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had stated a few days ago that some of the 11,000 North Korean soldiers in the Russian border region of Kursk were involved in fighting with the Ukrainian army.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine's advances in the region has tied down approximately 50,000 Russian soldiers who cannot be deployed to other Russian front positions on Ukrainian territory.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to talk with EU and NATO representatives in Brussels on Wednesday about further support for Ukraine.