North Korean Troops Fighting in Ukraine, Report Finds, in Deepening Russia Alliance
June 1, 2025
In a striking expansion of military cooperation between two of the world’s most heavily sanctioned regimes, North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to assist in its war against Ukraine, according to a new report by an international sanctions monitoring group.
The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), an ad hoc body formed by 11 United Nations member states after Russia shut down the U.N.’s official panel last year, released its inaugural report Thursday detailing what it calls a “flagrant” series of arms transfers and military exchanges between Pyongyang and Moscow. The scope and brazenness of the violations, the report said, represent a “dangerous expansion of the war” and a major breach of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Among the report’s most consequential findings is the deployment of over 11,000 North Korean soldiers to Russian territory beginning in October 2024. The troops—reportedly trained in artillery, drone operations, and trench warfare—were confirmed to be engaging in combat operations alongside Russian forces in Ukraine’s Kursk region. Both governments publicly acknowledged the troop presence in April, citing a newly signed DPRK-Russia Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The revelations mark the first documented instance of North Korean combat forces being deployed in a foreign warsince the Korean War. Analysts say the move could signal a long-term strategic alliance between the two nations, both increasingly isolated from the global order.
“These are not just arms shipments or rhetorical support,” said a Western diplomat briefed on the report. “This is direct military involvement by North Korea in a European war.”
A Two-Way Pipeline of Weapons and Training
The MSMT report lays out a sprawling logistics operation, identifying at least 20,000 shipping containers of munitions sent from North Korea to Russia in 2024, including more than 9 million rounds of artillery and over 100 ballistic missiles. North Korean arms—including anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades—have been recovered from battlefields in Ukraine. Independent investigators confirmed that short-range ballistic missiles fired into cities like Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia originated in North Korea and were manufactured as recently as 2024.
In exchange, Russia has reportedly supplied Pyongyang with air defense systems, including the modern Pantsir-S1, and electronic warfare equipment. Russian military advisors have also provided real-time performance feedback on North Korean missile systems, effectively helping Pyongyang improve its accuracy and battlefield capabilities.
“This cooperation isn’t just about circumventing sanctions—it’s about mutual battlefield advantage,” said a sanctions expert involved in drafting the report.
Sanctions Violations Extend Beyond the Battlefield
The report details a wide array of additional violations, including:
- Illegal oil shipments: North Korea is estimated to have received more than 1 million barrels of Russian petroleum in 2024—double the annual cap imposed by the U.N.
- Sanctioned labor: North Korea reportedly sought visas for 8,000 new workers to Russia and dispatched nearly 500 construction and textile workers by early 2025.
- Financial circumvention: North Korea established ruble-based banking operations in South Ossetia, Georgia, with Russian assistance, using U.N.-sanctioned banks to conduct transactions.
The report also traces deceptive shipping practices used to evade detection, including the use of uninsured Russian-flagged vessels operating without active tracking systems, and Russian military cargo aircraft transporting missiles and launchers between the two countries.
The MSMT report warns that these activities threaten not only Ukrainian sovereignty but also the global non-proliferation regime. The collapse of the U.N. Panel of Experts, dismantled by Russian veto in early 2024, has created a vacuum in enforcement that Moscow and Pyongyang appear eager to exploit.
In the absence of a formal U.N. enforcement body, the MSMT calls on member states to tighten maritime inspections, enhance export controls, and share intelligence on DPRK sanctions evasion networks.
The Trump administration has not yet responded publicly to the findings, though senior officials have previously expressed alarm at the growing ties between North Korea and Russia. U.S. and allied intelligence agencies have confirmed elements of the report, including the presence of North Korean-made ballistic missiles in Ukraine and unmarked DPRK troops cooperating in Russian border zones.
