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North Korea sent 3,000 more troops to Russia to offset Ukraine war losses, South Korea says

by Tim Zadorozhnyy March 27, 2025 1:11 PM 2 min read
Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers wait to pay their respects before the statues of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong II in Pyongyang on July 8, 2019 (Kim Won Jin / AFP)
This audio is created with AI assistance

North Korea transferred around 3,000 additional soldiers to Russia in January and February to compensate for battlefield losses sustained fighting Ukrainian forces, AP reported on March 27, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said that North Korean forces fighting for Russia had suffered around 4,000 casualties, with two-thirds killed.

Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, attributed their high losses to North Korea's lack of combat experience and reliance on human wave attacks with limited equipment.

According to the agency, Pyongyang has also supplied Moscow with short-range ballistic missiles, 170 mm self-propelled howitzers, and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers.

North Korea has become a crucial military partner for Russia, providing artillery shells, missiles, and troops in exchange for oil products and advanced rocket technology.

Up to 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to help Russian forces push back a Ukrainian incursion that began in August 2024.

Ukrainian troops initially seized 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russian territory before Russian forces, reinforced by North Korean units, launched a counteroffensive earlier this month, recapturing significant ground, including the town of Sudzha.

As Ukraine, Russia agree to ceasefire at sea, Moscow’s battered Black Sea Fleet is set to get a reprieve
The White House on March 25 announced that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea, returning the spotlight to a theater of battle that has been relatively quiet for more than a year. Throughout 2022 and 2023, Ukrainian strikes against Russian ships,

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