A photo showing a North Korean flag next to a Russian one on a Ukrainian battlefield is making the rounds on several military blogs, but some claim it is photoshopped. Here’s everything we know about it so far.

Both Ukraine and South Korea have said thousands of North Korean troops are being trained to fight for Moscow in Ukraine, with around 1,500 reportedly already deployed there.

A North Korean envoy to the United Nations denied these claims, calling them “baseless rumors” on Monday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, while the Russian embassy in Seoul insisted in a Facebook post that its cooperation with North Korea was “within the frame lay’. of international law.”

Several Russian bloggers, including Military Informant (@milinfolive_man), posted a photo of Moscow flag side by side with North Korea “near the recently liberated village of Tsukurino in the direction of Pokrovsky.”

“It seems that the fighters on the ground have decided to tease the enemy,” the channel wrote on Telegram.

But the head of the Center for Combating Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Kovalenko, has said the photo could be photoshopped and used “as propaganda of fear against Ukraine,” ASTRA, a Telegram channel, reported which reports on Russian terror. -Ukraine war.

The Donetsk region, where the flags allegedly flew, is a focal point for Russian forces trying to gain control of the Donbas region, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The front line near Pokrovsk has been fiercely fought for months, with the towns of Kurakhove and Myrnohrad being attacked by Moscow this weekend. The Kiev Independent reported, with reference to local authorities.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian Defense Ministries and the North Korean Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Mission to the UN Office via email for comment.

Over the weekend, US Defense Secretary Loyd Austin said he could not confirm reports that North Korea had sent troops to Russia. Reuters reported.

Last week there were several reports that Moscow was planning to use North Korean soldiers to help drive Ukrainian forces out of Kursk, where they have been invading since August 6.

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate said nearly 11,000 North Korean infantry troops were training in eastern Russia to fight in Ukraine.

Military Intelligence Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov told The War Zone website on October 17 that these battalions will be ready to fight in Ukraine on November 1. But he added: “We don’t have the full picture at the moment.”

Hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Brussels that about 10,000 North Korean troops were preparing to fight for Russia.

South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), also said North Korea planned to send between 10,000 and 12,000 troops to Russia, according to Yonhap.

The NIS believes that Pyongyang transported special forces between October 8 and 13, with around 1,500 North Korean troops being transported in the first phase.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the allies “have no evidence that North Korean soldiers are involved in the fighting.”

“But we do know that North Korea is supporting Russia in many ways: arms supplies, technology supplies, innovation, to support their war effort – and that is very worrying,” he added.