Kyiv, Ukraine - Russia is preparing to deploy 10,000 North Korean soldiers in the fight against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Thursday, citing intelligence information.

Zelensky has previously accused North Korea of sending troops to Russia's army, but this was the first time he gave an exact figure.

An unspecified number of North Korean soldiers were already on "occupied Ukrainian territory from the side of Russian enemies," Zelensky said, based on "information from our intelligence".

"We know (of) about 10,000 soldiers of North Korea that they are preparing to send to fight against us," he added, speaking to reporters in Brussels after talks with EU leaders.

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The Ukrainian leader was attending an EU leaders' summit and a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels as he presses for support for his "victory plan" to end Russia's invasion.

Zelensky said the North Korean troops included "land forces" and "other tactical personnel".

"This is the first step to a world war," he warned, noting that Iran was also backing Russia with "drones and missiles," a claim that Tehran has repeatedly denied.

He insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "counting" on the North Korean soldiers because he was "afraid of mobilization."

North Korean missiles have reportedly been deployed in Ukraine by Russian forces, although both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied this.

Putin made a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, where he signed a mutual defense agreement with leader Kim Jong-un.