Ukraine's defense intelligence agency says Russia has transferred more than 7,000 North Korean soldiers from the Russian Far East to areas close to Ukraine.

The defense intelligence agency said on social media on Saturday that the transfer took place in the final week of October. It said the North Koreans have been provided with machine guns, night-vision devices and other equipment.

Footage released by Ukrainian authorities in mid-October appeared to show North Korean troops lining up to receive supplies and other items at a training facility in the Far East.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that 8,000 of the 10,000 North Koreans sent to Russia have been positioned in the western region of Kursk.

Blinken said he expects the North Korean soldiers to see combat in the coming days. Ukraine is staging cross-border attacks into Kursk.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said on Friday that Pyongyang is hoping that its troops will gain vital combat experience and learn how to operate drones through the deployment.

But the think tank noted that "if Russia uses North Korean personnel as 'cannon fodder,' the casualties that North Korean troops are sure to accrue will undermine whatever battlefield lessons Pyongyang hopes to learn."