Zelenskyy: Russia seeks 30,000 more troops from North Korea

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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.

Over the course of the four-year war, Russian President Vladimir Putin has increasingly relied on North Korea to supply artillery shells and missiles . Bringing in North Korean troops is raising concerns about Moscow transferring its own military know-how to the regime of Kim Yong Un in Pyongyang.

“Russia is helping North Korea learn how to wage war, improve its weapons, and gain real combat experience in using them,” Zelenskyy said.

“All of this is a threat to everyone in Asia who is within range of North Korean missiles. We will counter this,” he said.