Thousands of North Korean troops are arriving in Eastern Europe to fight alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said on October 28.

“I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Rutte told reporters, referring to the west Russian region that is now partly controlled by Ukrainian forces. The move marks a “significant escalation” in North Korea’s “involvement in Russia’s illegal war,” he said, and a “dangerous expansion” of the conflict.

The move comes four months after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a security pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that obligates both nations to come to each other’s assistance if either is attacked. The deployment shows that Russia and North Korea are not waiting for an outside attack to prompt them to join forces; instead, they are preemptively fighting together in a war of aggression.

Over the last year, North Korea has sent Russia more than 13,000 shipping containers holding millions of artillery shells and an unknown number of ballistic missiles. Along with suicide drones provided by Iran, and semiconductors and various dual-use goods supplied by China, this outside help has been enough to keep Russia’s war machine humming.

But after 2½ years of full-scale war resulting in 610,000 Russian casualties, Moscow is also in need of manpower. “[Russia] is facing a situation where the labor shortage has worsened due to war dead, conscription and those who evaded conscription,” Cho Han-bum, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told tv Chosun.

North Korea—with 7,769,000 active troops, reservists and paramilitary members—has the world’s largest military force by total number of personnel. So it is well positioned to help Russia mitigate its manpower shortages. And it seems eager to do so.

The current plan is for North Korea to deploy 10,000 troops to assist Russia by the end of the year, with additional units in 2025. These are significant numbers and could have a serious bearing on Russia’s war against Ukraine. In light of Bible prophecy, this news takes on particular importance.

Ezekiel 38:2 (New King James Version) describes an individual called the “prince of Rosh,” or the “prince of Russia.” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has identified Vladimir Putin as this prince. In his 2017 booklet The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia,’ he writes: “This world has a lot of authoritarian rulers. But Vladimir Putin is one we need to keep a particularly close eye on. His track record, his nationality and his ideology show that he is fulfilling a linchpin Bible prophecy. The time frame of his rule also shows that nobody else could be fulfilling the Ezekiel 38 and 39 prophecy.”

These chapters in Ezekiel show that this “prince” will soon be leading a massive army that will play a central role in a third world war. Revelation 9:16 details exactly how massive the force will be: “the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand.”

This means 200 million troops, which is 15 times larger than the biggest army ever assembled in human history. But Russia, with a population of just over 140 million, could never field this number of troops on its own.

Ezekiel 38 lists several ancient names signifying modern Asian nations that will subordinate themselves to Russia and join their armies to make this 200 million-man force. Verses 2 through 5 give names signifying modern China and India. And verse 6 has Gomer, which is the primary ancestor of several Asian peoples, including the modern Koreans.

These passages show that Korean soldiers will be part of the vast multinational Asian force that Putin will soon lead. To see North Korea today subordinating itself to Putin’s Russia, supplying vast amounts of weaponry, and even sending thousands of troops to further the war effort shows that the groundwork is being laid for North Korea to take its place in the Putin-led 200 million-man army.

It is clear that dark years lie ahead for Russia, Ukraine, North Korea and the entire world. But Mr. Flurry stresses in his booklet that this darkness will not last long but will give way to a hope-filled and radiant future. He writes:

Vladimir Putin is a sign, literally a SIGN [of] one of the most inspiring messages in the Bible. What we are seeing in Russia ultimately leads to the transition from man ruling man to God ruling man! … A great transition is about to occur.

To understand the details of these Bible prophecies and “one of the most inspiring messages in the Bible,” order your free copy of The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’