Published: · Region: Eastern Europe · Category: intelligence

CONTEXT IMAGE
Military equipment
Context image; not from the reported event. Photo: U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center photo by G. T. — via Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia: Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops

Zelensky Accuses Russia of Using North Korean Missiles, Warns of 50,000 DPRK Personnel in Theater

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said between 30,000 and 50,000 North Koreans are in Russia “studying this war” and that Pyongyang‑supplied missiles have already been used in strikes on Ukraine. The claims, coupled with an appeal for closer cooperation with South Korea, point to an emerging axis of weapons flows that could reshape how the conflict is fought and contained.

Volodymyr Zelensky is warning that the war in Ukraine is pulling North Korea more deeply into Russia’s orbit, in ways that could change both the battlefield and the global nonproliferation landscape. The Ukrainian president said on 8 August that between 30,000 and 50,000 North Korean nationals are currently in Russia, where he described them as “studying this war,” and that missiles supplied by Pyongyang have already been used in strikes on Ukrainian territory. Zelensky’s comments, made without public disclosure of specific locations or units, align with mounting evidence that Russia has been drawing on North Korean munitions to sustain its campaign. He stated that Ukrainian forces have already detected North…

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