SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has decided to send a “large-scale” troop deployment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, with 1,500 special forces already in Russia’s Far East and undergoing training, Seoul’s spy agency said Friday.

The announcement sparked anger in Kyiv, which demanded a “strong reaction” from its European and United States allies, and concern in Paris. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move smacked of “desperation” from Moscow.

Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (nis) released detailed satellite images it said showed the first deployment of elite North Korean soldiers being moved by Russian military vessels to Vladivostok.

Seoul’s spy agency said that between 8 and 13 October, it had detected “North Korea transported its special forces to Russia via a Russian Navy transport ship, confirming the start of North Korea’s military participation” in Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The first contingent of troops — which South Korean media said were from an elite unit under North Korea’s Special Operations Forces, also known as the “Storm Corps” — are currently stationed in military bases across Russia’s Far East.

“The special forces “are expected to be deployed to the front lines (of the Ukraine conflict) as soon as they complete acclimatization training,” NIS said.

The soldiers have been issued Russian military uniforms and Russian-made weapons, the NIS said.

“This seems to be an effort to disguise the fact that they are North Korean troops by making them appear as Russian soldiers,” NIS added.

More troops are likely to be sent soon, NIS said, adding that it estimated the North could send around 12,000 soldiers in total.

“A second transport operation is expected to take place soon,” it said.

The NIS said Friday that the North had “provided Russia with more than 13,000 containers’ worth of artillery shells, missiles, anti-tank rockets and other lethal weapons” since last August.