North Korea Dismisses Claims of New Troop Deployment to Russia

North Korea has denied plans to send up to 50,000 additional troops to Russia, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement “baseless.”

Reuters reports this.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior ruling party official, said that Pyongyang does not plan to send tens of thousands of additional troops to Russia.

This was her reaction to Zelensky’s words that North Korea could send up to 50,000 troops to Russia. The Ukrainian president announced this in early August and called on South Korea to help Ukraine strengthen its air defense.

Kim Yo Jong also reiterated Pyongyang’s position on the war against Ukraine, blaming the US and Western countries for its “emergence and continuation.”

At the same time, North Korea has already sent its military to Russia. It is estimated that in 2024, about 14,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.

This followed the conclusion of a strategic partnership agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang, which the parties agreed to during Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s visit to the DPRK in June 2024.

In addition to military personnel, North Korea has supplied Russia with weapons. According to Ukrainian and independent estimates, this includes millions of artillery and mortar shells, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery, and multiple launch rocket systems.

As a reminder, North Korea is transferring its missile unit to the Voronezh region of the Russian Federation, which could be used to strike Ukraine. It could be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles.