President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine claimed that Russia has requested an extra 30,000 soldiers—and missile launchers—from North Korea to fight his country.
In a social media post late on Saturday, July 25th, Zelensky claimed:
Russia wants to receive another 30,000 troops from North Korea. Since June, preparations have been underway in Russia’s Voronezh region to receive them.
Previously, the Hermit Kingdom sent thousands of troops to support Russia amid a 2024 Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Kursk region. It has also been arming Russia since 2022. South Korea reckons that some 2,000 North Korean troops have been killed in the war, while other estimates run to 6000 (of 14,000 deployed).
Following a recent visit to Moscow by foreign minister Choe Son Hui, Pyongyang via KCNA state news agency
expressed invariable support for all the internal and external policies of the Russian Federation to eliminate the root cause of the Ukrainian dispute and defend its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international justice.
Russian military aid to North Korea helps it to resist the international sanctions programme designed to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
