North Korea has sent around 400 drone operators to Russia as part of a new deployment of approximately 8,500 troops that could support attacks on targets inside Ukraine, Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR), told CNN on Friday, Aug. 21.The contingent is deployed primarily in Russia’s Kursk Oblast and includes about 1,000 engineers and deminers, Skibitskyi said.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.Many of the drone operators have gained experience through previous North Korean deployments, according to the Ukrainian intelligence official.Skibitskyi said their drones would likely be used for reconnaissance and attacks against targets inside Ukraine.North Korean troops could free up Russian forcesUkrainian intelligence assesses that the newly deployed North Korean troops are not expected to fight directly on Ukrainian territory.Instead, they are expected to reinforce Russian rear positions, allowing Russian troops currently assigned to those areas to be redirected to assaults along the front, Skibitskyi said.He said Russia could ask North Korea to provide up to 50,000 additional troops during a potential September meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, rejected Ukrainian claims that Pyongyang planned to send tens of thousands of additional troops to Russia, calling the estimate “groundless” and “a self-staged incident.”North Korea supplies Russia with ballistic missilesNorth Korea is also expanding its military support for Russia through ballistic missile deliveries, Skibitskyi said.