The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed South Korean assertions that North Korea may have sent some military personnel to help Russia against Ukraine and might be weighing a bigger deployment.

South Korea’s Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun this week said “there was a high possibility” North Korea could deploy troops to help Russia in the war with Ukraine.

Kim also told a parliamentary hearing that news reports of North Korean military officers having been killed in a Ukrainian strike on territory controlled by Russian forces were likely true.

“This looks like another bit of fake news,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if North Korea was sending its troops to fight in Ukraine.

(Reuters)