Pyongyang Might Send 50k Troops to Putin – North Korea is gearing up to ship tens of thousands of more men to support Russia’s war with Ukraine, Kyiv claims.
Almost 10,000 North Korean Troops Already in Russia
M2020 Tank from North Korea. Image Credit: KCNA/North Korea State Media.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for South Korea to improve its ties with Ukraine in light of the troubling news.
Up to 50,000 North Koreans could be deployed by Russia under the alleged arrangement.
Zelenskyy said last month that Russia was keen to bring a further 30,000 North Korean troops into the war, before adding this weekend that Pyongyang decided to deploy up to 20,000 more North Koreans on Russian territory than what was first anticipated.
Ukrainian Intelligence estimates that some 9,500 North Korean troops are already on the ground in Russia, and Zelenskyy’s 30,000 to 50,000 figure is thought to include that.
Zelenskyy said the deepening ties between Russia and North Korea mean that the latter is upping its experience of modern warfare. He consequently urged South Korea to boost cooperation over air defense and drones.
6000 North Korean Fatalities
In Summer 2024, Russia and North Korea signed an unprecedented defense pact, which led to the latter sending troops to Russia just months later.
Pyongyang later agreed to send a further 6,000 service members and military construction workers, as well as millions of artillery rounds and ballistic missiles it has sold to Russia.
South Korean intelligence also estimates that more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers have so far been killed.
Ukrainian sources claim that the expected arrival of North Korean troops could be deployed in the coming months as part of a renewed offensive. They claim the North Korean soldiers would be poised to cover duties in Russia’s Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod.
NK Supplies Amount for ‘Half’ Russian Frontline Ammunitions
Writing for Onetsk, global affairs expert Olga Nesterova explained: “Russia’s war requires ammunition on an extraordinary scale, and North Korea possesses enormous stockpiles compatible with Soviet-designed Russian weapons.”
Over time, those shipments became strategically significant. Western, South Korean and Ukrainian assessments have attributed millions of artillery rounds to North Korea; Reuters also reported this week that North Korean supplies have at times accounted for roughly half of Russia’s frontline munitions.”
Edward Lucas, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), wrote for The Times: “The 14,000 soldiers sent to Russia were ill-prepared, badly equipped, and undertrained. Casualty rates were over 50 percent. Round two will be different.”
However, he did admit that “dependence on North Korean help is a humiliating sign of Russia’s weakness.”
After refraining from using North Korean missiles since late 2025, Russia has unleashed record figures of KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles in recent months as Ukraine grapples with major shortages of Patriot interceptors.
Ahn Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies and a former North Korean soldier, told German news outlet Deutsche Welle that “a deployment of 50,000 is militarily feasible” and that Pyongyang would send “elite special operations troops.”
“North Korea’s special operations forces are particularly skilled in reconnaissance, surprise attacks and ambushes, and have demonstrated their combat capabilities on the Kursk front, making them attractive to the Russian military,” Ahn noted.
“If 30,000 troops are deployed, however, the contingent would likely include not only special operations forces but also infantry, engineers, construction workers and female medical personnel,” he continued.
Bloomberg analysis estimates that dictator Kim Jong Un has earned up to $22 billion in foreign revenue between 2022 and 2025, largely from supplying weapons and troops to Russia.
Anti-American States Deepen Links
In a newly published book Axis of Aggressors, Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery has argued against assuming ties between anti-NATO states like North Korea, Russia, Iran, and China are insignificant.
The book details some 600-plus examples of cooperation between the countries.
“Europe still looks at this conflict and says these are two co-equal belligerents: Iran and the US. That’s ridiculous. Iran is backed by Russia. It’s backed by China. In the past, it has been backed by North Korea. Yet we still cannot get Europe to support us against Iran,” Montgomery recently told Radio Liberty.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
