N Korean troops 'poised to be used in Ukraine' claim

NORTH Korean troops are poised to be deployed by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine as early as this weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed.

Western officials have warned that such a development would stoke the almost three-year war and bring geopolitical consequences as far away as the IndoPacific region.

Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had determined that "the first North Korean military will be used by Russia in combat zones" between tomorrow and Monday.

He said on Telegram that the deployment was "an obvious escalating move by Russia".

Russia has been conducting a ferocious summer campaign along the eastern front in Ukraine, gradually compelling Kyiv to surrender ground.