Illustrative image. (Korean Central News Agency)
North Korea has expanded its military support for Russia to include a specialized unit of drone operators, CNN reported on August 21, citing a senior Ukrainian intelligence official.
Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitskiy, deputy head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, told the news network that a new contingent of North Korean personnel deployed to Russia includes roughly 400 drone operators.
The deployment is part of a broader force of 8,500 North Korean troops currently stationed within Russian territory, primarily in the Kursk region, per the report.
According to Skibitskiy, many of the North Korean drone operators have gained tactical experience from previous deployments.
While the intelligence suggests these troops are unlikely to fight directly on the front lines inside Ukraine, their presence in the Russian rear is expected to bolster Moscow’s logistics and defensive capabilities, effectively freeing up Russian frontline units for offensive operations.
The North Korean contingent in Russia also includes approximately 1,000 engineers and deminers, according to the report.
Skibitskiy also claimed that North Korea has supplied at least 150 KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles to Russia since last year, with another 120 reportedly promised. Reuters reported on the alleged missile shipment earlier this week, but Kyiv is yet to present any evidence backing its claims.
Russia and North Korea have consistently deepened their alliance since the 2024 signing of their mutual defense agreement.
Recent Ukrainian intelligence claims appear to be tied directly into Kyiv’s urgent push for more Western support, particularly advanced air defense systems.
Ukraine is currently facing a severe shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles to shoot down incoming Russian ballistic missiles. At the same time, the United States and European allies are dealing with critically low stockpiles of their own, making it harder to fulfill Kyiv’s requests before winter.
By calling attention to the growing involvement of North Korean troops and missile shipments, Ukrainian leaders are trying to pressure international partners—and specifically push South Korea to drop its strict ban on exporting lethal weapons—to secure more air defense shipments.
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glória, poder e honra à coreia do norte. a experiência adquirida na ucrania vai arrasar a coreia do sul na próxima guerra das coreias.
can’t the world see that ukraine leaders are a joke! a big sick bunch of thieves.
sean penn cracks me up. he likes playing mafia gangsters and is attracted to south american narcos and domestic madonna sluts. now he makes movies about the ghost of kyiv and snakes with a consultant that the croats grab and turn over to germany. next thing you know he’ll be playing a gestapo chief who likes to parade around in black stockings while torturing his victims. he’s one weird dude.
a new propaganda movie directed by penn ? he should volunteer at the contact line. live what you profess to believe.
you can blame north korea for whatever you want, but at least, in the last communist dictatorship on earth people have children. we cannot say that in the very ‘democractic’ south korea. at this fertility rate south korea will disapear in less than a century. this is also a warning for russian women : no children, no future, no culture, no history, nothing….
they probably plan to put their souls in some mechs before that happens. ;-)
what a luxury item for russia. having several hundred thousand troops available upon need. i do not believe the cia facebook campaign for foreign mercenaries can match this in any pentagon dream. when will the globalists finally admit defeat? stay tuned to slop media, this will happen. wise ukrainians better flee before the weather changes
400 drone operators is quite cool
and 40,000 drone makers feeding them. cooler still.
well, lenine was half tatar, and he stil has a masoleum.
embalmed with tartar sauce. i always wondered how they managed that.
what’s the warning about? he’s ready to attack pyongyang?
good to see that civilized countries are sticking together to defeat the global mafia. north korea is definitely on the list of countries to visit.
it makes perfect sense for north korean admin to have their drone units trained in ukraine fighting nato under combat conditions. if nato does survive past the next few years then north korea will be on their menu, if not already. the us has already taken what missiles and thad system south korea had and sent them to isreal in order to keep the ‘greater isreal’ on track.
deployed in russia not ukraine which has been the western lie for a long time.