SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean general has reportedly been wounded in Russia’s Kursk oblast, just one in a line of developments in the Ukraine war that are spiraling ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

North Korea has become the first third-party country to join the conflict, prior Western limits on missile strike ranges have been lifted to deadly effect, and Russia has responded by striking the city of Dnipro with a nuclear-capable ballistic missile.

Moscow is also beginning to reward Pyongyang for its participation, according to a senior Seoul official.

On Friday, South Korea’s National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik told local media, “Russia is believed to have provided equipment and anti-air missiles to strengthen Pyongyang’s vulnerable air defense system.”

Multiple analysts have predicted that Moscow will supply advanced weapons technology to Pyongyang in return for the millions of munitions and the thousands of troops it has sent to assist the Kremlin’s nearly three-year war against Ukraine.

Mr. Shin’s comments followed dramatic news breaking in the war zone.

Missiles vs. missiles

Citing unnamed Western sources, The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that a North Korean general had been wounded in Kursk. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said she “could not confirm the report” but called North Korean troops a “fair target.”

Separately, anti-Kremlin Russian newspaper Moscow Times said that at least 10 British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles had struck a Russian command post and signals hub established on the grounds of the presidential Maryino Estate, 20 miles from the frontline in Kursk.

It is not clear whether the wounded North Korean officer was at that location.

Russian TV reported that air defenses had shot down two Storm Shadows. The weapon, first supplied by London in May, has a range of 155 miles, but its use, thus far, has been restricted to Ukraine.

On Nov. 17, U.S. President Biden authorized the use of ATACAMs missiles to strike targets inside Russia. Since then, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has declined to deny reports that British Storm Shadows are being used against targets in Russia.

Though media frequently dubs these projectiles “long range,” they are tactical, battlefield systems, that lack the range of ballistic missiles, which can travel thousands of miles.

Kyiv told the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 31 that it had identified three North Korean generals with the state’s expeditionary corps in Russia. South Korean intelligence service has identified one as Gen. Kim Yong-bok, the commander of North Korea’s 11th “Storm” Corps, which comprises light infantry, airborne and marine special forces brigades.

Ukraine has had considerable success killing Russian generals, largely with long-range fires, supported by U.S.-supplied intelligence and aided by sometimes sloppy Russian electronic and signal protocols. Russia has admitted the death of eight; Ukraine claims 12.

Though combat is already underway in Kursk, heavier fighting is expected once winter descends. In Russophone warfare, the season favors the offensive: Ground frost enables off-road maneuver and makes defenses harder to dig.

Russia has massed some 50,000 bayonets in Kursk, largely comprising elite VDV (airborne) and Naval Infantry (Marine) troops.

An estimated 11,000-13,000 North Korean troops are also in the operational area, reportedly fighting alongside a Naval Infantry brigade.

North Korea and Russia signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in June. One article in the document calls for security assistance if the territory of either partner is invaded. While it is Russia that invaded Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv’s counteroffensive into Kursk, de jure, triggers that clause.

Ukrainian forces, equipped with Western-supplied armor, holding the Kursk lodgment are believed to number around 30,000. They are heavily armed with Western-supplied fighting vehicles, including German Leopard tanks and U.S. Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

Analysts believe Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to wipe out Ukraine’s salient in Russia, to deprive Kyiv of a territorial bargaining chip should the Trump administration pressure both sides to begin negotiating.

The Kursk lodgment was established in August when Ukrainians surged across the border, catching Moscow and the world by surprise. In the months since, Russia has regained approximately half the territory, Kyiv media reported.

Multiple global precedents are being broken in Ukraine.

Though the British Army used Asian colonial troops in World War II and Germany deployed ethnic Asian troops who had defected from the Red Army, current developments mark the first time in modern history that sovereign East Asian units have fought in Europe.

In another first, Russia struck the city of Dnipro with an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile Thursday. Though nuclear-capable, the weapon’s multiple warheads were loaded with high explosives.

Mr. Putin, in a TV address, indicated that the strike with the experimental “Oreshnik” missile was a response to London and Washington permitting the firing of long-range tactical missiles against targets inside Russia — previously, a red line.

Mr. Putin warned that Oreshnik’s hypersonic speed means it can foil all Western-made air defense systems.

The Pentagon said the new IRBM was based on the RS-26 Rubezh model. According to specialist media Military Today, the RS-26 has a tested range of more than 3,600 miles — far beyond that of the tactical Storm Shadows.

• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.