What We Know About North Korean Troops Fighting in Russia's War

North Korea has sent thousands of soldiers and large amounts of weapons to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. A Ukrainian intelligence official recently said North Korea has also sent a missile unit to western Russia. This makes North Korea's role in the conflict its biggest since the Korean War in the 1950s. Countries around the world are watching closely and many are speaking out against what they call illegal military cooperation.

Reports say the North Korean missile unit has about 90 soldiers and could be armed with up to 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers. Ballistic missiles are powerful weapons that travel in an arc through the sky before hitting a target. The unit is expected to be based in Russia's Voronezh region. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in July that Russia wanted to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops and was already building facilities in Voronezh to house them.

Estimates of the total number of North Korean troops in Russia have grown over time. In late 2024, Ukraine, the United States, and South Korea believed around 10,000 to 12,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Russia. By January 2025, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations said more than 12,000 soldiers were there. Later estimates put the number as high as 14,000 to 15,000, mostly in Russia's Kursk region near the Ukrainian border.

Russia and North Korea both confirmed in April 2025 that North Korean troops had actually fought against Ukrainian forces in Kursk. Russia's top military commander praised the North Korean soldiers after Russia said it had retaken land in Kursk. North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, said he personally ordered the deployment. As of this month, a Ukrainian official said around 9,500 North Korean troops remain in Kursk, though they were not directly involved in fighting at that time.

North Korea has also promised to send other types of workers and specialists to the region. In June 2025, Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said North Korea would send 1,000 sappers and 5,000 military construction workers to Kursk. Sappers are soldiers who are trained to find and remove explosive mines left behind in war zones. These workers would also help rebuild roads, buildings, and other infrastructure damaged during the fighting. It is not yet clear how many of these workers have actually arrived.

Beyond soldiers, North Korea has supplied Russia with a huge amount of military equipment. According to Ukrainian and independent assessments, North Korea has sent millions of artillery and mortar rounds, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery systems, and rocket launchers. A Reuters analysis found that four Russian cargo ships made 64 trips to a North Korean port between September 2023 and March 2025, carrying nearly 16,000 containers full of ammunition. Ukrainian officials said North Korea was providing about half of all the ammunition Russia needed at the front lines.

So why is North Korea helping Russia? The two countries signed a major partnership agreement in June 2024 when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. The deal included a promise to help each other if either country was attacked. North Korea has described sending troops as supporting a 'brother nation.' Experts say North Korea also benefits from the deal by receiving money, oil, and access to advanced Russian military technology.

Many countries have strongly criticized North Korea and Russia for their military partnership. The United States and its allies say the troop deployments and weapons transfers break United Nations rules. North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 because of its nuclear weapons and missile programs. Sanctions are punishments like trade bans that are meant to pressure a country to change its behavior. The U.S. added more sanctions in December 2024, and NATO warned that these growing ties are a threat not just to Europe, but also to Asia and North America.