North Korea Bolsters Russia With More Troops and Missiles
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- North Korea initially deployed 14,000-15,000 troops to defend Russia's Kursk region in late 2024, and Ukrainian and international intelligence agencies now suspect an additional 30,000-50,000 troops are being prepared for deployment.
- Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) reports North Korea has delivered 148 KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles to Russia since 2025, with a North Korean missile unit now deploying to Russia's Voronezh region potentially equipped with 120 ballistic missiles.
- Military experts Oleksandr Kovalenko and Ruslan Leviev told DW the new North Korean troops would likely guard Russian border territories including Kursk and Voronezh, freeing up roughly 15,000 Russian soldiers for front-line battles in Vovchansk, Kharkiv, Sumy, or Chernihiv rather than fighting on Ukrainian soil.
- Russian analyst Ruslan Leviev said he has not seen concrete evidence of a significant North Korean troop presence, noting Moscow still recruits around 1,000 contract soldiers daily — a sign he said shows Russia has enough forces without foreign soldiers.
- Military expert Yuri Fyodorov called North Korean missiles "instruments of terror," explaining their low accuracy makes them suited for hitting residential areas; like Russia's Iskander 9M723, they can only be stopped by US-made Patriot air-defense systems, which Ukraine has critically low on.
- Experts interviewed by DW — including Jenny Town of the Foreign Policy Research Institute — said North Korea's involvement will not be a turning point in the war, though Kovalenko warned October through December could be "very trying for Ukraine" given a potential new Russian mobilization combined with continued North Korean support.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said North Korea's improved combat and weapons experience from the war poses a security threat to Ukraine and the broader Asia-Pacific region, and cited a North Korean missile strike on a home near Kryvyi Rih in July that killed two parents and three children.
Why it matters: Ukraine faces a difficult winter as Russia could combine a fresh mobilization, the freeing of roughly 15,000 frontline troops currently tied to border defense, and an ongoing supply of North Korean ballistic missiles. The missile angle is concrete: only US-made Patriot interceptors can stop KN-23/KN-24 strikes, and Ukraine's Patriot stockpile is critically depleted, meaning each new salvo risks residential casualties like the Kryvyi Rih strike.
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