--- title: Reports of Russian Troops Nearing North Korea Unconfirmed description: The Kremlin has declined to comment on media reports that Russia is moving military hardware and troops toward the North Korea border canonical: https://time.com/4750010/russia-troops-north-korea/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-21T08:49:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:32:15.790Z article:section: World og:title: Reports of Russian Troops Nearing North Korea Unconfirmed og:description: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on media claims og:url: https://time.com/4750010/russia-troops-north-korea/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd315920182b94885/6988c3df0b72e334eb6ed75c/gettyimages-464352150.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CRISIS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Reports of Russian Troops Nearing North Korea Unconfirmed twitter:description: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on media claims twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd315920182b94885/6988c3df0b72e334eb6ed75c/gettyimages-464352150.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Russia Declines to Comment on Claims Its Troops Are Headed Toward North Korea by [Reuters](/author/reuters/) ## Reuters Apr 21, 2017 8:49 AM CUT  A Russian flag flies near Pro-Russia militants sitting atop a 2S1 Gvozdika (122-mm self-propelled howitzer) as a convoy of pro-Russian forces takes a break as they move from the frontline near the eastern Ukrainian city of Starobeshevo in Donetsk region, on February 25, 2015. A Russian flag flies near Pro-Russia militants sitting atop a 2S1 Gvozdika (122-mm self-propelled howitzer) as a convoy of pro-Russian forces takes a break as they move from the frontline near the eastern Ukrainian city of Starobeshevo in Donetsk region, on February 25, 2015.VASILY MAXIMOV—AFP/Getty Images by [Reuters](/author/reuters/) ## Reuters Apr 21, 2017 8:49 AM CUT (MOSCOW) – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday declined to comment on media reports that Russia was moving military hardware and troops towards the border with North Korea, the RIA news agency quoted him as saying. Peskov said that deployments of Russian troops inside Russia’s own borders were not a public matter. Some media in Russia’s Ear East have cited local residents as saying they have seen military hardware being moved towards North Korea as tensions with the United States over its nuclear program escalate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4750010/russia-troops-north-korea/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4750010/russia-troops-north-korea/"},"headline":"Russia Declines to Comment on Claims Its Troops Are Headed Toward North Korea","datePublished":"2017-04-21T08:49:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:32:15.790Z","description":"Local media in Russia's Far East have reported eyewitness accounts of Russian hardware on the move","url":"https://time.com/4750010/russia-troops-north-korea/","keywords":["russia","North Korea","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd315920182b94885/6988c3df0b72e334eb6ed75c/gettyimages-464352150.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Reuters","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/reuters/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd315920182b94885/6988c3df0b72e334eb6ed75c/gettyimages-464352150.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CRISIS","caption":"UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CRISIS","creditText":"VASILY MAXIMOV—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4750010/russia-troops-north-korea/","name":"Russia Declines to Comment on Claims Its Troops Are Headed Toward North Korea"}}]}] ```