Zelensky "First engagement with North Korean forces makes the world more unstable"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared fighting between North Korean troops and their own forces sent to Russia as a fact.

"The first battle with North Korean soldiers has opened a new chapter of global instability," Zelenskyy said in a video address on the 5th local time, citing the first battle between Ukrainian forces and North Korean forces attached to Russian forces.

"I would like to thank the supporters of each country who are actually preparing to act to support our defense, not just words," he said.

"We, along with the world, must do everything to deter Russia's attempts to expand the war," Zelensky said, adding that "we must work to ensure that Putin's regime's attempts fail and that both Putin and North Korea lose."

President Zelensky's remarks confirmed the claim by Andriy Kovalenko, director of the Center for Confidential Response under the National Security and Defense Commission of Ukraine, that North Korean troops were first attacked in Kursk, western Russia, this month.

However, the Ukrainian government explains that it is not a full-scale skirmish, but a small-scale skirmish.