North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un sitting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Beijing.Pool photo, AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images

Russia wants 30,000 more troops from North Korea, Zelenskyy says – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Moscow wants to bring in 30,000 additional troops from North Korea to fight alongside Russian forces in the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.

"We also see Russia’s cooperation with North Korea. Russia wants to receive another 30,000 troops from North Korea," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Saturday evening. "Since June, preparations have been under way in Russia’s Voronezh region to receive them."

According to estimates, Pyongyang already has transferred about 12,000 troops to Russia's Kursk border region, under a mutual defense pact signed with Moscow in 2024.