Ukraine, 007 Kiev: North Korea to triple troops in Russia, up to 30,000 more

(Adnkronos) – Kim Jong-un's North Korea is ready to triple the number of its soldiers sent to Russia, along the front line, to fight against Ukrainian forces. That is, to send another 25-30 thousand soldiers to support the Russian war effort. This is what emerges from an assessment by Ukrainian intelligence, which CNN has seen.

North Korean troops could arrive in Russia in the coming months, joining the 11,000 sent in November to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. About 4,000 of those North Korean troops have been killed or wounded, according to Western sources, but cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow has since improved.

The Ukrainian assessment seen by CNN says the Russian Defense Ministry is able to provide “necessary equipment, weapons and ammunition” with the aim of “further integration into Russian combat units.” The document adds that “there is a strong possibility” that North Korean troops will engage in combat in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine “to reinforce the Russian contingent, including during large-scale offensive operations.”

The assessment, by Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, also said there were signs that Russian military aircraft were being adapted to carry personnel, demonstrating the feat of moving tens of thousands of foreign troops across Russian Siberia, which shares a border with North Korea in the far southwest. Satellite images obtained by CNN showed possible preparations for the new deployment, including the arrival of a ship at a Russian port and a cargo plane at North Korea’s Sunan airport.

North Korea initially secretly sent 11,000 soldiers to Russia in the fall of 2024, and Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed this only at the end of April. Analysts say that in November 2024, a Russian ship Ropucha docked at the port of Dunai, near Nakhodka, with 400 soldiers.