Russia Wants 30,000 More North Korean Troops for Ukraine War, Zelensky Says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia is preparing to bring another 30,000 North Korean soldiers into its war effort, a move that would sharply deepen Pyongyang's direct involvement in the conflict if it goes ahead.

Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelensky said Moscow "wants to receive another 30,000 troops from North Korea" and that preparations to host the incoming personnel have reportedly been under way since June in Russia's Voronezh region, near the Ukrainian border. Neither the Russian nor North Korean governments have commented on the claim.

Such a deployment would mark a major escalation from earlier troop movements. Reuters has reported that roughly 14,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to Russia's Kursk region in 2024 to help push back a Ukrainian incursion there. An additional 30,000 troops would more than double the scale of North Korea's known military contribution to Russia's war.

Zelensky argued that the stakes go well beyond the battlefield in Ukraine. He said Russia is effectively helping North Korea "learn how to wage war, improve its weapons and gain real combat experience," warning that the fallout could threaten other countries in Asia within range of North Korean missiles. He separately alleged that Pyongyang is also preparing to supply Russia with additional ballistic missile launchers, a claim likely to further alarm Western governments already tracking the military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.

North Korea's role in the war, once concealed, has become increasingly public since Kim Jong Un's government confirmed last year that its leader approved sending troops to Russia in August 2024. State media in Pyongyang has since honored soldiers killed or wounded fighting alongside Russian forces as national heroes.

The human cost of that involvement has been significant. South Korea's National Intelligence Service estimated earlier this year that North Korean forces have suffered roughly 4,700 casualties, including about 600 deaths, in operations centered on the Kursk front — figures that have not been independently confirmed.

Zelensky said Ukraine intends to respond to what he called a growing threat from the deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, though he did not specify what countermeasures Kyiv is considering.