North Korean soldiers are being covertly transported to the front line in Russia’s southern Kursk region using civilian lorries, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

In intercepted radio communications, two Russian commanders were heard discussing a hold-up in the transfer of North Korean troops following Kim Jong-un’s decision to assist the Kremlin’s war effort.

“Do you have Kamaz truck 497 on your list?” a Russian commander asks his colleague at a checkpoint on the Kursk-Voronezh highway.

The colleague replies that 497 is a civilian number before the first commander explains that the driver is “helping to transfer North Koreans”. 

“That’s why he has no official combat number,” he adds.