North Korea denies President Zelenskyʼs statement about sending 30 000 to 50 000 of its troops to Russia

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a ruling party official Kim Yo Jong has denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs statement about sending 30 000 to 50 000 North Korean troops to Russia.

Reuters writes about this.

In early August, Zelensky reported that North Korea wanted to send its military to Russia to study the experience of the war with Ukraine. At that time, Zelensky called on South Korea to provide Ukraine with air defense systems in exchange for cooperation in the field of drones or in other areas. He explained this by saying that such experience of the North Korea could pose a threat to Asian states and aggravate the situation in the Pacific Ocean.

However, Kim Yo Jong said that Zelenskyʼs statement was "baseless" and a "staged incident". She added that the responsibility for starting the war in Ukraine and prolonging it lies with the US and the West.

Cooperation between Russia and North Korea

As early as January 4, 2024, Western media reported that Russia had received a shipment of ballistic missiles and launchers from the DPRK. On the same day, the US officially stated that Russia had short-range ballistic missiles from the DPRK and had launched them over Ukraine.

The first DPRK soldiers arrived at the front to fight for Russia against Ukraine back in October 2024, when it was about 12 thousand soldiers. And in March 2025, North Korea sent another 3 thousand soldiers.

On July 25, 2026, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia wants to receive another 30 000 troops from the DPRK. At the same time, North Korea is preparing to transfer new ballistic missile launchers to the Russian Federation. Since June, the Russian Federation has been preparing in the Voronezh region to receive North Korean soldiers.

On the night of July 30, the Russians used two North Korean missiles to strike Radushne in Kryvyi Rih for the first time in a year, killing a large family. The missiles were KN-23 missiles, which are actually a complete analogue of the Russian Iskander missile.

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