President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reported that about 10 thousand North Korean servicemen are stationed on the territory of Russia.
According to the head of state, the participation of the DPRK military in hostilities and their training in modern methods of warfare pose a serious threat.
“They (the DPRK military — ed.) are learning to counter missiles, various types of drones, including fiber-optic drones, from FPV to long-range drones. They are training now on Russian territory, because we are responding to Russian attacks. So they have this opportunity. What will they do with this knowledge? At the very least, they will bring this experience and knowledge home, to North Korea,” Zelensky emphasized.
As early as October 13, 2024, the President stated that Russia and the DPRK were strengthening cooperation, and it was no longer just about supplying weapons, but also about sending military personnel to the Russian forces. The next day, he noted that North Korea had actually joined the war against Ukraine.
The then head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, reported that about 11 thousand North Korean soldiers were being trained to participate in the war. This information was later confirmed by the US Department of Defense. In the DPRK, such statements were initially called “baseless rumors,” and the country’s representative to the UN emphasized that cooperation with Moscow was “legitimate and based on cooperation.”
On November 5, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed the first combat clashes between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the DPRK military in the Kursk region of Russia. On December 14, Zelensky reported the first losses among North Korean soldiers during assault operations in this region and stated that the Russian military was covering up their losses.
On January 11, 2025, the Ukrainian military captured two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. The President instructed the SBU to provide access to them. South Korea has declared its readiness to accept prisoners, as it considers the residents of the DPRK to be its citizens.
As of mid-January 2025, according to the Ukrainian side, about a thousand DPRK soldiers were killed in the Kursk region. On April 28, 2025, North Korea officially recognized the participation of its units in Russia’s war against Ukraine. According to estimates by Vadim Skibitsky, Deputy Head of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense, in August 2025, about 11 thousand servicemen from the DPRK were on the territory of Russia.
