10,000 North Korean troops sent to Russia to train for Ukraine war, Pentagon says

North Korea has sent some 10,000 troops to train in Russia, the Pentagon said Monday, more than tripling the previous estimate as NATO warned of a dangerous expansion of the Ukraine war.

Russia and North Korea have boosted their political and military alliance in the course of the conflict, but the deployment of Pyongyang's troops into combat against Kyiv's forces would mark a significant escalation.

"We believe that the DPRK has sent around 10,000 soldiers in total to train in eastern Russia that will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the next several weeks," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists, using an abbreviation for North Korea's official name.