North Korean Arms and Servicemen Fighting Ukraine

"These are barely trained troops led by Russian officers who they don't understand."

"Quite frankly they don't stand a chance. They are being thrown into the meat grinder with little chance of survival. They are cannon fodder, and the Russian officers care even less for them than they do for their own men."

Former British Army tank commander, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

 

"They are numerous. An additional 11,000-12,000 highly motivated and well-prepared soldiers who are conducting offensive actions."

"They operate based on Soviet tactics. They act in platoons, companies. They rely on their numbers." 

Ukraine's top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi

Russian soldiers firing rockets toward the front lines near Lyman, Ukraine, on Dec. 25.  Stanislav Krasilnikov / Sputnik via AP

North Korea sent hundreds of artillery and rocket systems to Russia and more on their way, in solidarity with Russia in its war against Ukraine. Moscow received a large boost in its agreement with Pyongyang over a mutual defence solution to two outlier countries facing off against a world hostile to their plans of nuclear proliferation and territorial expansion. Russian troops have been fortified by the presence of troops from North Korea, helping in the campaign to push Ukrainian servicemen out of the Kursk region.

 

Clashes between Ukrainian armed forces and North Korean troops have added to the merciless death toll, with Ukraine estimating that a third of the 10,000 North Korean soldiers sent to aid Russia have perished in the conflict. The death toll has been ignored by both Moscow and Pyongyang. 

Ukrainian intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov stated that North Korea has provided Russia with roughly 120 17mmn self-propelled artillery guns and 120 240mm multiple-launch rocket systems in the last three months. It is his conviction that this is just the start, that North Korea "have a lot of these systems" and will provide at least as many more in the near future. 

General Budanov's comments and estimates have been confirmed, matching reports by Russian military bloggers relating to the steady flow of weapons from North Korea to Russia. Lt. Gen. Budanov added that North Korea also is expected to forward 150 additional KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles in 2025 to Moscow, to add to the 148 provided in 2024.

Months earlier it was confirmed that up to 10,000 North Korean elite troops had been deployed to fight in Ukraine under Russian command. According to Budanov, the actual number is around 12,000 troops, one-third of whom are now casualties in a death-toll that is decimating the North Koreans. According to U.S. figures however, the death toll estimates are lower, at around 1,200.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed on January 11 that Ukraine had captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia, transporting them to Kyiv for interrogation. "This was not an easy task: Russian forces and other North Korean military personnel usually execute their wounded to erase any evidence of North Korea's involvement in the war against Ukraine", the message on his Instagram post read.

Testimony from Ukrainian servicemen who fought against the North Koreans related that their adversaries are brave and well trained. The North Koreans -- said the Ukrainian soldiers -- adapted quickly after taking high initial casualties, to the unfamiliar Russian battlefields.

Image published by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said to be of a North Korean soldier sent to fight for Russia. Photograph: EyePress News/Rex/Shutterstock