Russia might free up troops from border regions to bolster intense frontline sectors by replacing them with North Korean troops, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said on Monday.
Serhiy Bratchuk, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, said on television that up to 20,000 “combat-ready” Russian troops on the border might be transferred to the “hottest destinations,” with their positions replaced by North Korean troops.
“It is quite likely that there are 15,000-20,000, perhaps even no more, combat-ready Russian fighters there, they will transfer them just like these reservists, respectively, from the territory of the Russian Federation to the hottest destinations,” Bratchuk said, as reported by state media Ukrinform.
“It is obvious that this attempt by the Kremlin to use these units is aimed at freeing exclusively Russian combat units that are currently in the Russian border area, transferring them to the relevant most active sections of the Russian-Ukrainian front,” he added.
“Well, actually, the North Koreans will replace them there.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in early August that North Korea plans to station between 30,000 and 50,000 troops in Russia, amid reports that Pyongyang has bolstered arms transfers, as well as potentially deploying ballistic missile launchers and personnel, to Russian regions bordering Ukraine.
While Zelensky has warned that Russia is eyeing a major mobilization in autumn 2026, after the September State Duma elections, to replenish its ranks amid high battlefield losses, Western reports suggest that Russia is currently delaying the move by relying on volunteers.
Ukraine’s defense ministry estimated that Russia lost around 43,000 troops in July 2026, while the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SZRU) suggested in the same month that Russia recruited 1,070-1,090 troops per day on average, which fell short of the battlefield losses.
Russia and North Korea signed a defense pact in June 2024, with Pyongyang deploying troops to Russia’s Kursk region in October the same year to help Moscow recapture lost territories.
While both initially denied reports of North Korean troop deployments, they later acknowledged them in April 2025.