Brothers in Arms: Putin Gets Reinforcements from North Korea

 

"I don't see any signs that Putin wants a just peace. He wants Ukraine to surrender," says Margarete Klein, head of the Russia and Eurasia research group at the Foundation for Science and Politics (SWP), which advises the German government. A similar view was previously expressed by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in an interview with DW.

 

Russian artillery: 40 percent of ammunition from North Korea

 

Researcher Klein points to the continued military assistance that the North Korean regime provides to Russia. "In some categories of weapons, this assistance is central, and sometimes even more important, than the open support from Iran or the covert support from China in the form of component deliveries," Klein notes.

For example, by April 2025, North Korea had delivered 5.8 million artillery shells to Russia.

These figures are confirmed by various sources, including an analysis by the Open Source Center, which examined North Korean stockpiles, for example, using satellite imagery.

“This is 40 percent of Russia’s ammunition stockpiles in this area. These stocks are extremely important to Russia,” Klein notes.

Russia is replenishing its rapidly depleting stockpiles with supplies from North Korea in order to “make headway in ground combat,” she adds.

 

 

Supplies from North Korea are more important than aid from China and Iran

 

In addition, North Korea also supplies Russia with ballistic missiles, multiple rocket launchers and long-range artillery.

"Overall, this is the largest bilateral arms supply package that Russia has received from another country since 2022," Klein concluded in an interview with DW.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a strategic partnership agreement in June 2024, which provides for mutual military assistance.

And, apparently, this assistance continues: just before the summit in Alaska with US President Donald Trump, Putin, according to official North Korean statements, spoke with Kim by phone and received assurances of his support.

Around 11,000 North Korean soldiers helped Russia liberate the Kursk region in Russia, which was quickly seized by Ukraine. According to Ukrainian Supreme Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky in January 2025, almost 5,000 of them were killed or wounded in the fighting in the area, from which the Ukrainian army had to withdraw. However, these figures cannot be independently verified.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has now praised his soldiers in Russia for their "heroic fighting", according to North Korea's state news agency KCNA.

 

Russian troops to be transferred from Kursk to Zaporozhye

 

North Korean soldiers are apparently helping Russia free up soldiers from the Kursk region for fighting on the southern front in Ukraine. At least that's what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a conversation with journalists in Kiev, to which Deutsche Welle was also invited.

Following Putin's meeting with Trump and a summit of European leaders in Washington, Zelensky spoke at this meeting not only about the political situation. Regarding the latest actions of the Russian army, he said: "We see that they continue to transfer part of the troops from the Kursk direction to Zaporozhye."

In a recently released video address, the Ukrainian president said that the military should respond to this with stronger counterattacks.

Expert Margarete Klein notes in an interview with DW that thanks to North Korea's help, Russia can save its own troops "for offensive operations in Ukraine." In addition, the Kremlin uses the participation of North Korean soldiers in the war on the side of Russia for propaganda purposes: as a sign that Russia has allies.

"In general, the Russian leadership is trying to hide the high losses in its army from society," Klein notes.

 

Russian Defense Industry Experts from North Korea

 

Russia's heavy losses in Ukraine are also having an impact on the Russian defense industry. There is a shortage of conscripts being recruited into the military. Meanwhile, workers and "specialists from the North Korean defense industry and hybrid operations" have been spotted in Russia, Klein said. This coincides with information obtained during a meeting with then-Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustam Umerov in Kiev in late June.

 

Kiev: Russia has problems with its "mobilization reserve"

 

At the time, Umerov said: "Russia's use of the elite North Korean contingent indicates not only a deepening dependence on totalitarian regimes, but also real problems with its mobilization reserve."

According to information from Western intelligence agencies, which cannot be verified, North Korean leader Kim has already talked to the Kremlin about sending another contingent of his soldiers to Russia.

Russia expert Margaret Klein is convinced that nothing has changed in this regard. Even after the meeting between Putin and Trump in Alaska, "there is still no signal from Moscow that they are really ready for constructive negotiations and that they want to end this war," adds Klein.