North Korea will dispatch military engineers and construction workers to Russia around July or August, Seoul’s spy agency assessed, just as Moscow may be eyeing a new offensive against Kyiv.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) made the assessment based on previous DPRK visits by Russia’s former defense minister Sergei Shoigu, with deployments taking place a month after each trip, ROK lawmakers Park Sun-won and Lee Sung-kwon said at a televised press briefing on Thursday.

Pyongyang likely already began the selection process of servicemen for the dispatch shortly after Shoigu, who currently serves as the secretary of Russia’s Security Council