Russia is deploying more troops, armored vehicles and aircraft of the Russian Ground Forces to the little known 17 kilometer-long border it shares with North Korea in the Russian Far East.

Russian state-controlled media is reporting this significant deployment of troops, armored vehicles and combat helicopters was made on orders of president Vladimir Putin. The build-up of troops and equipment has apparently been going on for about a week.

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An unnamed military officer was quoted by media as saying the "movement of military equipment by different means of transport to southern areas is being observed across Primorsky region over the past week."

Video broadcast on Russian television shows a military train loaded with armored fighting vehicles heading towards the Russian province of Primorsky (or Primorsky Krai), which is where Russia's short border with North Korea is located.

Primorsky, which a population of less than two million, is administered from the nearby city of Vladivostok, headquarters of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet.

"Railway trains loaded with military equipment moving towards Primorsky region via Khabarovsk have been noticed by locals," said an announcer in a video posted on YouTube.

The Kremlin has offered no explanation for the apparently unwarranted military build-up at Russia's remote border with North Korea. It's worth noting, however, this reinforcement comes at a time when North Korea, the United States and China appear on the brink of war over North Korea's nuclear weapons development program.

China has deployed 150,000 more men of its People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) and their equipment to its 1,400 kilometer-long border with North Korea along the Yalu River. China's reason for this unexpected military build-up is to prevent North Korean refugees from flooding across the border into China should a conflict arise between North Korea and the U.S.

It's not well known China, Russia and North Korea share a common border near the Russian town of Khasan in Primorsky. The Russian-North Korean border is the shortest border in the entire Russian frontier.

TagsRussia, Russian Ground Forces, North Korea, Russian Far East, Vladimir Putin, Primorsky, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, china, People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Khasan