An image purportedly 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 that thousands of North Korean troops are being trained to fight for Moscow in Ukraine, with about 1,500 reportedly already stationed there.

A North Korean envoy to the United Nations denied those claims on Monday, calling them “unfounded rumors,” 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 limits.” of international law.”

Several Russian bloggers, including military informant (@milinfolive_man), posted a photo of Moscow Flags next to each other with North Korea's “near the recently liberated village of Tsukurino in the direction of Pokrovsky.”

“It looks like the fighters on the ground have decided to annoy the enemy,” the broadcaster wrote on Telegram.

But the head of the Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Andriy Kovalenko, said the photo could be photoshopped and used “as propaganda of fear against Ukraine,” ASTRA, a Telegram channel, reported. who reports on the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Donetsk region, where the flags were reportedly raised, is a focus of Russian forces trying to gain control of the Donbass region, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

There has been heavy fighting on the front line near Pokrovsk for months, with the towns of Kurakhove and Myrnohrad being attacked by Moscow over the weekend. The Kiev Independent reported, citing local authorities.

Newsweek has emailed the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries and the North Korean Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations Office seeking 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 drive Ukrainian forces out of Kursk, where they have been invading since August 6.

According to Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Agency, nearly 11,000 North Korean infantry troops were trained in eastern Russia to fight in Ukraine.

Military Intelligence Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov said on October 17 on The War Zone website that these battalions will be ready for combat in Ukraine by November 1. However, he added: “We don’t have a complete picture at this point.”

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

South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) also said North Korea plans to send between 10,000 and 12,000 soldiers to Russia, according to Yonhap.

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

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said allies had “no evidence that North Korean soldiers were involved in the fight.”

“But we know that North Korea supports Russia in many ways, whether through arms supplies, technological supplies or innovations to help it in the war effort – and that is extremely worrying,” he added.