North Korean missile unit has begun deploying to western Russia, says Kyiv

The announcement comes after the Ukrainian president claimed last month that Moscow was seeking the deployment of an additional 30,000 North Korean troops

A man photographs parts of an unidentified missile, which Ukrainian authorities believe to be made in North Korea and was used in a strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Jan. 6, 2024. (Reuters/Yonhap)

Ukraine’s intelligence agency claimed Wednesday that a North Korean missile unit has begun deploying to western Russia. “Russia planned to base the missile unit of around 90 North Korean personnel in the western Russian region of Voronezh, within its 112th Missile Brigade,” Reuters reported Wednesday, citing Andrii Cherniak, a member of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence. Cherniak also said that North Korea has already sent 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles and related personnel to Russia, but that details of the deployment, including its scope, will be finalized at high-level talks in September. The intelligence official added that Russia expects at least 120 North Korean ballistic missiles and six launchers to be deployed. The announcement followed reports that North Korean missiles had once again been used against Ukraine, marking their first reported use in about a year. Ukraine said that North Korean ballistic missiles were used to strike a village in its central region last week, killing at least five people. However, Reuters could not independently verify Cherniak’s claims and noted that the official said that his assertions were based on intelligence that could not be disclosed because of its sensitive nature. Reuters also reported that the Russian Defense Ministry and North Korea’s embassy at the UN in New York “did not immediately respond to written requests for comment.” Following its invasion of Ukraine, Russia began to fire North Korean-made KN-23 and KN-24 missiles at Ukraine starting in late 2023. Cherniak told Reuters that North Korea supplied 150 of those missiles between the end of 2023 and August 2025. As the war drags on for more than four years with no resolution in sight, Russia is intensifying its ballistic missile campaign against Ukraine, exploiting a shortage of US-made Patriot missiles that has left Ukraine's air defenses increasingly strained following the US-Iran conflict. Cherniak told the wire service that there were around 9,500 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region, but that “they were not currently directly involved in military operations against Ukraine.” Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed in a speech that Russia wanted to bring in an additional 30,000 North Korean troops.By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]