A youth organization from Russia-occupied Donbas is planning joint projects with North Korea after a visit to Pyongyang in June, according to local media, in what experts called a likely prelude to dispatching DPRK personnel to the war-torn region of eastern Ukraine.

A delegation of several Russian youth organizations led by the National Council of the Russian Association of Youth and Children visited the DPRK from June 3-7, where it reportedly discussed youth exchanges and visits to the Songdowon International Children’s Camp. 

Anna Grogul, head of the Donetsk-based Youth Diplomacy Center Legatus, joined the June trip and told