Zelensky: Russia requested 30,000 additional North Korean soldiers, preparations underway since June

President Volodymyr Zelensky warned late Saturday that Moscow has asked Pyongyang for 30,000 more soldiers to bolster its war effort, with logistical preparations already visible in western Russia.

The request and the staging ground

Zelensky posted on X on 26 July that Russia is seeking the additional troops and that, since June, preparations have been under way in the Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine, to receive them. The same claim was repeated in a video address the same evening.

Russia wishes to receive 30,000 additional soldiers from North Korea. Since June, preparations have been under way in the Voronezh region, in Russia, to accommodate them.

Zelensky also said North Korea is getting ready to transfer additional ballistic missile launchers to Russia, deepening a military-technical exchange that Kyiv and its allies have monitored with growing alarm.

A threat beyond Ukraine

Zelensky framed the deployment as a danger not only to his country but to the entire Asian neighbourhood within range of Pyongyang’s missiles. He argued that Russia is effectively giving North Korea battlefield schooling.

This is not only a threat to Ukraine. Russia is helping North Korea learn to wage war, perfect its weapons and acquire real combat experience using them. All of this is a threat to every country in Asia within reach of North Korean missiles.

He promised that Ukraine would respond to the threat, without giving details.

Earlier deployments and a deepening alliance

North Korea’s involvement on Russia’s side dates back to 2024, when, under a mutual defense pact, roughly 14,000 North Korean soldiers were dispatched to the Kursk region to help repel a large-scale Ukrainian incursion. South Korean officials estimate that around 2,000 North Korean soldiers have already been killed on the battlefield. So far, Ukrainian forces have taken only two alive.

The latest request, if it materialises, would bring the total North Korean contingent well above 40,000.

Diplomatic backdrop

The claims surfaced just days after North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui visited Moscow. State news agency KCNA said she expressed “unwavering support” for all Russian internal and external policies aimed at “eliminating the root cause of the Ukrainian conflict” and defending Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.