Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that Russia intends to bring an additional 30,000 North Korean troops into its war against Ukraine, with preparations already under way in the Voronezh region. In his nightly video address on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said Moscow’s cooperation with Pyongyang was escalating, and that new North Korean personnel would be received at a facility in southern Russia that had been readying since June.
“We also see Russia’s cooperation with North Korea. Russia wants to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops,” Zelenskiy said. “Preparations have been under way in Russia’s Voronezh region since June to receive them.”
“Zelenskiy says Russia plans to bring 30,000 North Korean troops to fight Ukraine, with preparations underway in Voronezh.”
The warning comes after the two countries signed a mutual defence pact in 2024, under which North Korea has already transferred an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 soldiers to Russia’s Kursk border region to help repel a major Ukrainian incursion there. Over the course of the four-year conflict, Moscow has increasingly relied on Pyongyang for artillery shells and missiles, and Zelenskiy said North Korea was now preparing to supply new launchers for ballistic missiles.
But the Ukrainian president framed the latest troop movement as a broader danger beyond Europe. “Russia is helping North Korea learn how to wage war, improve its weapons and gain real combat experience in using them,” he said. “All of this poses a threat to every country in Asia that lies within range of North Korean missiles.”
Zelenskiy vowed that Ukraine would respond to the growing threat, though he did not specify how. His address underscores the deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, and raises fears that Russian know-how could accelerate North Korea’s weapons programme.