About 11,000 North Korean troops are stationed in Russia's Kursk Oblast as of early 2026 to support Moscow's war in Ukraine, Yonhap reported on Feb. 12, citing South Korea's intelligence. Since the start of the full-scale invasion,

South Korean intelligence says around 6,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded while fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine.

Leader Kim Jong Un attends inauguration ceremony in Pyongyang for newly established Saeppyol Street - Anadolu Ajansı

The South Korean government has repeatedly conveyed its willingness to accept the soldiers as its citizens after the war.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un led the inauguration ceremony for a street in Pyongyang constructed for the families of soldiers killed while dispatched to aid Russia, state-run media reported.

At the end of December last year, about a hundred Russian soldiers crossed the border into the Sumy province of Ukraine. The soldiers seized fifty civilians and about a dozen Ukrainian soldiers and moved them all back to Russia.

Ukraine’s goal is to make the war futile for Russia by minimizing territorial losses, pushing Russian casualties higher than the numbers Moscow can recruit, and increasing the economic costs such that the war is unsustainable.

Svetlana Savelyeva, a translator from the Siberian city of Irkutsk, traveled to Russia’s Kursk region in October 2024 with the goal of crossing the border into Ukraine. She hoped to reach her fiancé,

Israel’s clear interest is to ensure Ukraine does not fall. A Russian victory, fueled by Iranian and North Korean assistance, would be a psychological and military boost to our direct enemies.