South Korea’s intelligence agency said on Friday that North Korea has dispatched troops to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine, a development that could intensify the standoff between North Korea and the west.

In a statement on its website, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the port city of Vladivostok between 8 and 13 October and were now undergoing training.

“The North Korean soldiers … are expected to be deployed to the frontlines as soon as they complete their adaptation training,” the agency said, adding that more North Korean troops are expected to be sent to Russia soon.

NIS said North Korean soldiers were given Russian military uniforms and Russian-made weapons and were issued with fake ID cards of residents of the Yakutia and Buryatia, two regions in Siberia.

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Additionally, South Korean media said on Friday, citing anonymous sources, that Pyongyang has decided to dispatch a total of 12,000 troops, formed into four brigades, to Russia. The NIS did not immediately confirm these reports.

The statements come a day after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had intelligence reports that 10,000 North Korean soldiers were preparing to enter the war