Where have North Korean troops been seen in Russia?
While North Korea has been supplying weapons to Russia for some time, the arrival of troops is a major escalation in its involvement in the war of Ukraine.
The first official evidence of large numbers of North Korean troops entering Russia was provided by the South Korean government, who last week published a press release outlining the increasingly close military cooperation between the two states.
A map of sites in the Russian far east linked to the reported presence of North Korean soldiers
According to the press release, an initial contingent of 1,500 North Korean special forces troops were transported on Russian naval ships to the port city of Vladivostok.
The South Koreans provided two high-resolution satellite images showing what they say are these troops in two sites in Russia.
The first shows a crowd of what the South Korean government estimates is 400 people assembled in an open space within a Russian military site close to the town of Ussuriysk, 98 kilometres north of Vladivostok.
Image released by South Korean intelligence purportedly showing North Korean troops at a Russian military site
The second image shows a smaller number of people, which the South Korean government state are around 250 North Korean soldiers.
Satellite image released by South Korean intelligence purportedly showing North Korean troops at a Russian military site
This image was captured further north than the first. It shows an area that appears to be a military site close to the city of Khabarovsk in the Russian far east.
Footage circulating online
Amid reports of North Koreans entering Russia, several videos circulated widely.
While Sky News cannot confirm they show North Korean troops, one shows a group of soldiers of east Asian appearance. The person filming the video states they are North Korean, referring to them as ‘allies’.
This video has been geolocated by Sky News to the town of Sergeyevka in the Russian far east.
A second video filmed nearby shows a group of soldiers training in a field at the same site.
Filmed from over a wall, the footage is too grainy to allow the soldiers to be identified visually, however, many have claimed it shows North Korean troops.
A third video, released by the Ukrainian government, shows troops being equipped. While it is not possible to geolocate this footage, the presence of boxes marked in Russian has been cited as evidence this shows North Korean troops in Russia.
What satellite images can tell us
While currently available videos do not tell a full story, more can be learned from satellite imagery.
An image captured by Maxar of the site in Sergeyevka shows the sudden appearance of trenches on the grounds of the base in early October.
Equipment visible in a military site purportedly housing North Korean troops in Russia. Pic: Maxar
Later in the month, equipment can be seen assembled in an area in the south of the site, showing it has remained in use. This coincides with the reported arrival of troops in the area and the appearance of the videos, and fits with reports that the North Koreans are training in the area.
Available satellite imagery appears to show that a nearby training site in Lifarevka is also currently in use.
A comparison of low and high-resolution imagery captured over the month of October shows several huts appear to have been renovated at the site.
Renovated huts and evidence of training activities at a Russian military site. Pic: Maxar
Training trenches and signs of activity can be seen in high-resolution images captured on 24 October.
Fighting in the Ukrainian frontlines often involves the use of trenches resembling those seen at both sites.
A North Korean flag appears on the frontline
Amid reports of North Korean troops being prepared for fighting in Ukraine, an image showing the North Korean flag next to that of Russia went viral.
A North Korean flag flying in Russian-held territory close to the Ukrainian frontline
Sky News has geolocated this to a former mining facility between the towns of Hirnyk and Tsukuryn in eastern Ukraine.
The site sits close to the frontline, with Tsukuryn being captured by the Russians in early October.
While the presence of the North Korean flag does not necessarily signal their arrival in Ukraine, it does suggest that frontline Russian forces are aware of North Korea’s increasing involvement in the conflict.
Weapon deliveries
North Korean support for the Russian war effort is not a new phenomenon.
In October 2023, the White House released imagery showing a Russian ship collecting containers of what the Americans claim were weapons from the North Korean port of Rason.
Prior to this time, the port at Rason had largely been empty. Sky News found there was little activity at its piers until the late summer, after which an increasing number of ships were visible throughout the autumn and winter.
A ship at a pier known to be used in the transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia
Between late August and mid-February, Sky News recorded 34 days during which ships were visible at Rason’s once-empty piers.
While it is not publicly known how much weaponry has been provided by North Korea, the White House alleged in February that 10,000 containers of ammunition and other military materials had been sent since September 2023.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Ireland’s prime minister has announced the planned date for a general election to be held this month.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said he hopes the election will take place on 29 November, formally kicking off a truncated campaign which will last mere weeks.
Mr Harris, 38, was appointed Irish prime minister – the youngest in the country’s history – after Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation in March.
He will travel to Aras an Uachtarain on Friday, the official residence of the Irish president, to seek the dissolution of Ireland’s Dail parliament.
Speaking to RTE News on Wednesday, Mr Harris said: “As I would have discussed with the other coalition leaders, it’s my hope that we will have polling day on this country on November 29.”
He added: “I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead and asking the people of Ireland for a mandate.”
After refusing to be drawn on the election date for weeks, Mr Harris made the announcement less than an hour after his coalition partner-turned-campaign rival Micheal Martin revealed that the election would be called on Friday.
Mr Harris could have waited until March when the coalition’s five-year term comes to an end to go to the polls, but he has been paving the way for an election in recent weeks, announcing 10.5bn euros (£8.75bn) in tax cuts and spending increases last month.
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The election will bring to an end the historic coalition that brought together Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who had been rivals dating back to the civil war.
It saw Mr Martin, the Fianna Fail leader, taking the taoiseach role for the first half of the lifetime of the government, later replaced by then-Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar.
The last election was seen as a monumentally successful performance for Sinn Fein, which had the highest percentage of first-preference votes, but the party has struggled in more recent local and European elections.
A man described by not one but two of his closest former aides as a fascist will become the most powerful man in the world when he takes office. How worried should we be?
Very, say another dozen White House staffers who served under Donald Trump and watched him in action for his first four years in power.
In a second term, they are warning that those who once tried to prevent him from acting on his worst impulses will no longer be there to rein him in.
Follow latest: Trump wins US election – as world leaders congratulate him
“The grown ups”, as they were called in Mr Trump’s first administration, will have gone, replaced by people more aligned with his agenda and pushing their own.
What is that agenda and what is to come? That is harder to say. We have learned not to take Donald J Trump literally – his empty promises, lies, and false threats come thick and fast.
The first time round, many of his promises came to nothing; to build a border wall and have Mexico pay for it, to bring peace to the Middle East, to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, and Iran’s too.
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What are ‘Trumponomics’?
But we can say what is likely; trade wars with China, Mexico, and Canada seem probable.
The extent of the tariffs Mr Trump imposes are harder to predict but the impact on the global economy will most likely be considerable.
He could rip up more treaties the US has signed, including climate commitments made by his predecessors.
Mr Trump is likely to undo much of the Biden administration’s work to reverse climate change and the negative impact on the planet may be substantial.
And he is likely to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war largely on Moscow’s terms if his words and those of his team are anything to go by.
Donald Trump with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in September. Pic: Reuters
His running mate JD Vance says Russia will keep the land it has taken and receive a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality. Putin could not have hoped for more.
Those hoping for an end to the war in Gaza may be disappointed too.
Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are close allies.
Donald Trump met Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in July
He is likely to give the Israelis plenty of latitude when it comes to the conflict. And there are fears he would not restrain Israel in any future confrontations with Iran unlike the Biden administration, with all the risks of a wider Middle Eastern war that might ensue.
NATO’s uncertain future
Trump’s impact on NATO is harder to predict. His team has floated various plans for the alliance. They all arguably weaken America’s support for it.
Without America’s cast-iron guarantee, will other countries seek their own security arrangements? It seems likely.
One of the great pillars of the post-world war order will have been weakened. But Mr Trump in his first term showed contempt for all its multi-lateral, multinational organisations.
America swings through cycles of isolationism, retreating from the world, then having to re-engage at huge cost to protect its interests.
Mr Trump may prove unwilling to learn the lessons of that history.
Those who regard America, for all its faults, as a positive influence in the world, an example to follow, will be most worried and disheartened.
A demagogic populist, regarded as a fascist by some of those who know him best and who openly admires authoritarians and dictators, will be taking up the reins of power again in the world’s most powerful democracy.
The US Capitol riot on 6 January 2021. Pic: AP
Half of American voters have opted for a man who refused to accept election defeat four years ago, used lies and dirty tricks to try and undermine its result, and stood by while an angry mob ransacked the citadel of American government.
All of that will only embolden other strongmen the world over and damage, perhaps beyond repair, the democracy that Americans have long believed stands as an example for all the world to follow.
So the worst kept secret in Irish politics is finally out, and the people look set to head to the ballot boxes on 29 November.
The taoiseach employs several lofty explanations for why he has decided upon an early election, but it’s hard to look beyond political expediency.
The Fine Gael party has been flying in the polls since Simon Harris became leader in April, while the opposition is in freefall. Sinn Fein, Ireland’s main opposition party, dropped to 16% in one recent poll – the lowest level of support since 2019.
Its leader Mary Lou McDonald – once seen as Ireland’s first female taoiseach in waiting – has been battling a serious decline in support for a year, and is bogged down in firefighting a damaging series of internal party scandals, north and south of the border.
Why wait until next March for an election? Going now ensures the voters will be getting the first benefits of the recent bumper €10.5bn (£9bn) giveaway budget (“buying votes” according to the opposition) as the polling cards arrive.
Going the parliamentary distance risks the current government buoyancy being sunk by events. A week is a long time in politics, four months an eternity. Why take the risk?
This election will largely be fought on the same issues as 2020. Four years of this coalition government has done nothing to convince voters that Ireland’s chronic housing problem is healing. Homelessness has hit a record high of 14,500.
The health system still creaks and groans under pressure, despite huge investment.
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Immigration may be a new factor; concerns over a surge in asylum-seekers arriving in Ireland mean the topic could be a key issue for the first time in an election here.
A chunky budget surplus, full employment, tax cuts and benefit hikes – what Sir Keir Starmer wouldn’t give to be in Simon Harris’s shoes.
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But for many citizens, Ireland is a rich country that often feels like a poor country. So the saying goes, at least.
Success for the government parties in this election will rely on reminding the voters of the first part of that truism and glossing over the latter part.
Extra pre-Christmas cash for punters, a hamstrung opposition and that new leader bounce all help greatly – Mr Harris kicks off this campaign in a strong position to be returned as Ireland’s prime minister.
It’s the government’s election to lose.
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