North Korea Reportedly To Send 30 Thousand Troops To Help Russia

Russian/Military Ivan Vyschinsky/TASS

JAKARTA - North Korea will double the number of troops fighting for Russia along the front lines with Ukraine.

North Korea sent an additional 25,000 to 30,000 troops to help Moscow, according to intelligence reports from Ukrainian officials.

The troops may arrive in Russia in the coming months. They added 11,000 which were sent in November 2024 to help expel Ukrainian attacks on Russia's Kursk territory.

Some 4,000 of the North Korean soldiers were killed or injured in the deployment, according to Western officials, but Pyongyang's cooperation with Moscow has been growing rapidly since then.

CNN reported that the Russian Ministry of Defense was able to provide the necessary equipment, weapons, and ammunition with the aim of further integration into Russian combat units.

It is likely that North Korean troops will engage in fighting in parts of Russia's occupied Ukraine "to strengthen the Russian contingent, including during large-scale offensive operations."

A report from the Ukrainian defense intelligence agency also said there were signs that Russian military aircraft were being repaired to transport personnel.

Possible preparations for the new deployment, including the arrival of ships linked to last year's deployment at Russian ports, and cargo aircraft at North Korea's Sunan airport, have been seen in the satellite imagery obtained by CNN.

North Korea initially sent 11,000 troops to Russia in the fall of 2024 in secret, with Russian President Vladimir Putin confirming the deployment in late April.

In October, North Korean soldiers were seen receiving equipment for the front line at the Sergeevka military base in Primorskyi Krai.

A month later, the Ropucha-class Russian ship docked at the port of Dunai near Nakhodka, 95 kilometers (59 miles) to the southwest, which can carry up to 400 troops, analysts said.

The transport ship of the same Roucha-type force docked on May 18 at the same port of Dunai, according to satellite imagery given to CNN by the Open Source Center, a UK-based nonprofit specializing in open source intelligence linked to defense and security.