South Korea’s military said Friday it suspects North Korea is preparing to send additional troops to Russia after its soldiers fighting in the Russian-Ukraine war suffered heavy casualties. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also assessed in a report distributed to journalists that North Korea is continuing its

North Korea is likely preparing to send additional troops to Russia after suffering heavy losses in battles against Ukrainian forces, South Korea's military said Friday.

Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said North Korea has already provided Russia with 120 self-propelled artillery guns and 120 multiple-launch rocket systems, with more to come.

Britain's defense ministry said about 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and around 3,000 more wounded fighting against Ukraine.

"North Korea is presumed to be accelerating preparations for the additional deployment of its troops to Russia while continuing to push for potential launches of a spy satellite or an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM),

North Korea is expected to send reinforcements to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, mainly gun and rocket artillery units, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with The War Zone magazine published on Jan.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, said North Korea’s assistance will bolster Russia’s long-range fire capabilities in Kursk Oblast and on the Ukrainian front, but he does not expect many new ground combat units.