GUR: Around 25,000 DPRK troops already rotate through Russian army ranks
Approximately 25,000 North Korean troops have already rotated through the Russian armed forces, Lieutenant General Oleh Ivaschenko, Chief of the Main Intelligence Agency (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said in an interview with The Times.
Currently, according to Ivaschenko, about 8,000 DPRK troops are present in Russia's Kursk region.
"Today, there are approximately 8,000 DPRK troops in Russia's Kursk region. Our intelligence indicates that their numbers could rise to around 50,000," he said.
Overall, the GUR estimates that Russia has already recruited more than 28,000 foreign fighters—including individuals from African nations drawn by promises of high pay. However, the GUR believes the number of North Korean troops within Russian forces could increase sharply.
North Korea is also supplying ballistic missiles to Russia.
As of August last year, the GUR estimated that Pyongyang had supplied at least 150 KN-23 or KN-24 missiles, with another 120 promised.
As previously reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Russia plans to deploy between 30,000 and 50,000 troops from the DPRK on its territory.