Kyiv
CNN
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According to an intelligence report assessment by Ukrainian officials, North Korea will triple the number of troops fighting for Russia along the frontline with Ukraine, and will send another 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers to support Moscow.
According to assessments seen by CNN, the troops could arrive in Russia in the coming months, adding to the 11,000 people sent in November who helped repel Ukrainian invasion into Russia’s Kursk region. According to Western officials, around 4,000 North Korean soldiers were killed or injured in the deployment, but cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow has since been bloomed.
The assessment of Ukraine seen by CNN states that the Russian Ministry of Defense can provide “necessary equipment, weapons and ammunition” with the aim of “further integration into Russian combat units.” The document adds that there is “great potential” for North Korean troops to engage in combat in parts of Russian occupation, “to strengthen Russian contingents, including during large-scale attack operations.”
An assessment from the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Reporting Agency says there are indications that Russian military aircraft are revising the carrying of personnel.
Possible preparations for new deployments, such as the arrival of ships linked to last year’s deployment at Russian ports and the arrival of cargo aircraft at Sunan Airport, North Korea, were found in satellite images obtained by CNN.
North Korea initially kept its 11,000-man troops a big secret in the fall of 2024, but Russian President Vladimir Putin only confirmed the deployment in late April.
In October, North Korean soldiers were portrayed as hand-to-hand devices at Sergevka military base in Primorsky Krai.
A month later, a Ropcha-class Russian ship docked at Donai Port near Nahokka, 95km (59 miles) to the southwest.
The Lopcha ship carrying the same type of troops was again docked to the same Donai port on May 18th. It was docked again, according to satellite images provided to CNN by the Open Source Centre, a UK-based nonprofit specializing in open source intelligence related to defense and security.
The flight pattern suggests that there may also be some more military movements ongoing. The Open Source Centre supplied CNN with satellite images from North Korea’s Sunan airport on June 4th. This cargo plane was probably taxiing the IL76 to the tarmac. The images do not show what ships and planes are being used for, but the move could suggest a pattern that matches what analysts observed last year.
“The satellite image shows the Russian personnel carriers that arrived in Donai in May and activities at Sunan Airport in May and June,” said Joe Burn, senior analyst at the Open Source Centre. “This appears to indicate that routes previously used to move DPRK troops are active and are now available for use in large future personnel relocations.”
Jennytown, a senior fellow and director of the Stimson Centre’s Korean program, said that the ratings for Ukraine, up to 30,000 people, are “high…but they can certainly come up with that number. They are not elite soldiers. UN Kim Jong says he’s all there is to it, so they depend on what Russia wants.”
The town said it would “sound more realistic” between 10,000 and 20,000 people, and that North Korea may gradually deploy its troops in stages. “There were rumours that a Russian general was already inside the North Korean training forces there,” she said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on Thursday suspects that Kyiv could potentially deploy more North Korean troops, but added that the country’s leader Kim Jong Un risked putting his government at risk by exposing so many elite troops to high frontline casualties. “The use of Russia’s elite North Korean forces shows that they rely not only on a growing reliance on the totalitarian regime, but also on serious issues with mobilization reserves,” Umerov said. “Together with our partners, we are monitoring these threats and responding accordingly.”
On Friday, Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Silsky said Russia is gathering 110,000 troops near the frontline hotspot town of Pokrovsk in preparation for the possibility of an attack on the strategic population center.
Russian state-run TASS News Agency, Sergei Shuig, the top adviser of Putin, who previously served as Minister of Defense, visited Pyongyang on June 17, for his second visit in two weeks and his second visit. According to Tass, during the visit, Shoigu announced that 1,000 North Korean sappers and 5,000 military construction workers will be sent to Russia to “restoring infrastructure destroyed by the occupyers” in the Kursk region.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) explained to lawmakers in Seoul that North Korea has begun selecting personnel for overseas deployments that could occur in July or August, according to comments by lawmaker Lee Sung Qwain. He emphasized the public announcement that Russia has sent 6,000 more North Korean mine cleaners and military construction workers. It is unclear whether NIS shares Ukraine’s intelligence report rating that deployments could reach up to 30,000.
Reports in Russian media also suggested intensified cooperation. A video from Russian television host and politician Marina Kim was posted on Telegram two days after acknowledging North Korea’s role in the war in late April, showing the intensive preparations of one North Korean force and long-term dugout accommodation. CNN and the UK-based information centre have globalized the facility into a field outside Post-Yoramdvorie, a settlement 10km (6 miles) east of Kresk city.
The six-minute video shows a Russian military instructor declaring that North Koreans, ages 23 to 27, have arrived “physically prepared.” He added, “As fighters, they’re not worse than ours. The enemy is the first to escape.”
Russian trainers discuss translation sheets of basic military terminology for Kim and the Koreans. It is unclear whether the North Korean trainees will be the 11,000 new arrivals sent last year or whether they will arrive. Reporters also visit trench networks where North Korea lives with basic comfortable items such as red Korean pepper, as well as handwritten posters that declare on their bunch of bunches in South Korea’s “revenge to our fallen comrades.”
Two other videos posted by Tass imply greater integration of North Korean soldiers into Russian troops than previously seen. According to assessments by Ukrainian officials, the first exposure of North Korean military to Kursk’s frontline was a distinct, distinct unit due to language barriers with Moscow’s military.
One TASS video shows North Korean and Russian troops working together to clear the buildings in close combat training. The other shows North Korea being trained with shotguns used to tackle the threat of Ukrainian drone.
Additional forces show signs of significant developments in the conflict and that North Korean leaders are doubling their support for Moscow. UN Kim Jong tested North Korean special forces in North Korean media on May 14, leading them to suspect that the visit was related to future developments. The revelation of what appears to be a major development in North Korea is part of a month-long CNN investigation into North Korea’s growing role in supporting the war in Moscow.
The Ukrainian intelligence agency also provided the most complete record of 82 strikes by North Korea’s KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles, revealing that one person is responsible for the deaths of 11 civilians in Pokrovsk in January 2024 and the intense use of this February. Their usage patterns are explained in detail by CNN.
CNN also obtained from staff in the training manual of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency for North Korean Artillery. This is a sign of both the Russian, the ubiquitous nature of weapons and the increased interoperability between the Mosqueyan and Pyongyang troops.
The manual has been seen online at the frontline as the number of videos of North Korean artillery has risen at the frontline, and in a report from UN member states last month, Pyongyang said it had sent at least 100 ballistic missiles and nine million artillery artillery to Russia in 2024.
The report also reflected a statement from South Korean forces in March that 3,000 more North Korean troops were sent to Russia earlier this year.
The town from Stimson Centre said Pyongyang saw long-term benefits in Moscow’s debt. “There’s an increase in ‘blood debt’ between them,” she said.
