Seoul: North Korea is preparing to send more troops and weapons to Russia

South Korea's General Staff said Monday there are signs North Korea is preparing to send more troops and weapons to support Russia's war in Ukraine.

Additional weapons being prepared include kamikaze drones, and North Korea has already sent rocket launchers and artillery to Russia, the headquarters said in a statement.

According to South Korea, the United States and Ukraine, North Korea has already sent about 12,000 troops to Russia.

According to North Korea's General Staff, at least 1,100 North Koreans have been killed or wounded.

Ukraine's military said on Monday it shot down 47 drones that Russian forces launched in overnight strikes targeting multiple areas of the country.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia shot down a total of 72 drones in its latest round of daily airstrikes.

Ukrainian air defense said it shot down drones over Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy and Zhytomyr regions.

Khmelnytskyi city governor Serhii Tiurin said on the Telegram network that the drone attacks damaged a business and several houses and injured one person.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Monday it shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region, which lies along the Russia-Ukraine border.

The governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said on the Telegram network that there were no reports of damage or casualties from the Ukrainian attack./ REL (A2 Televizion)