NORTH Korea is dispatching missiles and troops to Russia, in a move which threatens to overwhelm Ukraine’s dwindling air-defences.
Kim John-un has promised 120 North Korean ballistic missiles and six launchers to Vladimir Putin, intelligence suggests.
North Korea is bolstering Russia’s missile stocks and forces Credit: Alamy
Thousands of North Korean troops are currently in Russia Credit: Reuters
With Ukraine in short supply of high-end air defences Russia is now trying to exploit this by deploying more ballistic missiles – which are notoriously hard to shoot down.
The advancement of North Korean missile forces represents an extension of the already extensive military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.
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Ukrainian intelligence officer Andrii Cherniak revealed Russia plans to deploy around 90 North Korean troops to a missile unit in Voronezh.
It is not clear what precise role the North Korean personnel would play in Russian missile operations.
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North Korea has emerged as a close ally of Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine Credit: Getty
Thousands of North Korean troops are currently in Russia Credit: Rex
Last month the Kremlin wanted North Korea to send another 30,000 troops and that Russian preparations were under way to receive them in the Voronezh region, according to Zelensky.
A source familiar with the issue said that the United States is aware of the recent North Korean deployment, but declined to elaborate.
This deployment comes hot on the heels of Russia firing its first two North Korean missiles at Ukraine since last August.
Russia has fired scores of North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine since late 2023.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute said the North Korean resources pose a significant threat for Kyiv.
He said: “Ballistic missile defence is one of Ukraine’s greatest vulnerabilities so any increase in the quantities of ballistic missiles they face will pose a greater challenge.”
Lee said a big concern for Ukraine will be the state of its air defences this winter, when Russia could again target the power grid as in past years.
North Korean missiles may be bigger than Russia’s but – importantly – they are far less precise.
Cherniak said last week’s strike was the first recorded attack using North Korean ballistic missiles since August 2025, and that it had drawn from the new batch of 40 missiles.
The use of North Korea‘s KN-23/24 missiles fits a pattern in which Russia has tried to use more ballistic missiles that can only be stopped by U.S.-made Patriot air defence systems.
North Korea supplied 150 of the missiles between the end of 2023 and August 2025, Cherniak said.
He said there were around 9,500 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine but that they were not currently directly involved in military operations against Ukraine.
North Korea has emerged as a close ally of Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the two powers signed a mutual defence pact in 2024.
The move would be bolstering the estimated 14,000 North Korean personnel already deployed in the region.
It comes as Russia unleashed a barrage of missile and drone strikes on Kyiv – killing 17 people.
Vladimir Putin’s forces launched 28 missiles in a 20-minute nightmare blitzkrieg sparking over an hour of air raid alerts.
The attack is one of the deadliest strikes on Kyiv this year.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the night of attacks resulted in “horrific casualties and destruction”.
