The ‘Red-Blue Five-Pointed Star Flag’ of North Korea is not something typically found amid the shell-craters and blasted trenches of eastern Ukraine, but a picture of it flying alongside the Russian tricolour has driven fear into the hearts of men and women hardened by months of savage fighting.
Allegedly taken near atop a slag heap near the embattled city of Pokrovsk, the single blurry photo could indicate that Ukraine soldiers and civilians in the area are about to face an onslaught of thousands of troops from one of the strangest corners of the world.
Throughout the war, North Korea has been a steadfast ally of Russia, sending cash for weapons, providing artillery shells, and signing a mutual defence agreement in June that stipulated both countries would help each other repel external aggression.
Over the past week, however, Pyongyang appears to have sent soldiers not only to Russia, which Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, confirmed on Wednesday, but potentially also to the Ukrainian front lines.
A military official fighting on outside Pokrovsk told The Telegraph that his brigade had seen people who appeared to be eastern Asians walking around, and that there were “very many” soldiers on the Russian side.
“It’s impossible to identify them or confirm anyone. They’ve pulled up reserves and are now pushing very hard toward Selidovo,” a city in the Pokrovsk region.
“They [the Russian side] hung a flag. They could be spreading disinformation to escalate the situation,” he added.
The military official is not alone in hearing that North Korea might have invaded Ukraine.
A soldier on the Pokrovsk front with the codename “Pecheneg” told The Telegraph: “We have a ‘working’ group in one of the messenger [apps operated by Ukraine’s military] It receives all sorts of information.”
Recently, a Telegram message arrived from the Ukrainian army showing the distinctive insignia, chevrons, and epaulettes of North Korea’s forces.
Pecheneg shared the message with The Telegraph, which showed rank badges from common soldiers up to top-grade military commanders. Pecheneg added, “There is no direct confirmation. But we’re being prepared for it”.
Kyiv has yet to confirm that North Korean soldiers could be in Ukraine, and Pecheneg voiced his scepticism about the image of the flag.
At a busy market in Izyum in the Kharkiv region, one soldier who was previously in Pokrovsk said that he believed that North Korean soldiers invaded Ukraine last week but that the information was “not for show”.
One Ukrainian firefighter official said that he had only seen the news about North Korean soldiers in Ukraine from messaging networks, but that he believed it.
Whereas Ukraine is uncertain, it was confirmed by the US that 3,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia at the moment and that their numbers are expected to grow to 10,000 by December.
It is uncertain precisely how Pyongyang’s soldiers can help Russia achieve victory. They are untested in combat, as the last time North Korea was directly involved in a full-scale battle was during the Korean War, which ended 71 years ago.
“Even if the North Korean soldiers are likely to become mere cannon fodder, and valued, by Russia, for their sheer quantity, their involvement not only assists Russia – although by how much, given the quality of North Korean weapons, is debatable – but makes clear how this anti-Western coalition isn’t going away any time soon,” Dr Edward Howell, an expert in North Korea at the University of Oxford, told The Telegraph.
In Pokrovsk, residents are already bracing for the possibility of soldiers fighting on their streets. Before the war, the city had 80,000 residents, and Pokrovsk is at the centre of many rail and road lines for the whole of the Donbas.
Now, few remain, and the streets are mostly desolate, save a few elderly people walking along the streets or riding their bikes and Ukrainian soldiers driving by.
The roar of rockets and both incoming and outgoing artillery are omnipresent, and should Moscow occupy the city, it would cut the main supply line for Ukrainian troops in the region.
Much of Pokrovsk has no electricity, and there is essentially no internet in some neighbourhoods. With little money or options to start their lives over again elsewhere, many of the residents believe that they have nowhere else to go.
According to Leonid Zakharovich, a pastor, some 30 people have resorted to living at an evangelical church in the city called Awakening that has become a shelter for displaced people.
The church is made up of a large one-story building equipped with a dining hall, kitchen, and various rooms that have been transformed into sleeping quarters for its residents.
Mr Zakharovich has been a pastor at Awakening since 1993, and during the war has worked as a head of the church.
Most days, he works to support Ukraine’s war efforts, whether that be meeting soldiers on the front lines or delivering aid to people on the front lines.
“We started hearing bombardments two months ago. You can hear [them] very often. We believe in God and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and we believe that they [Russians] will not come here,” said Mr Zakharovich.
“According to the Bible, you should not violate your neighbour’s boundary. [Putin] invaded Ukraine, which means he violated it. Which means he is from the devil,” he added.
