- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK] forces have highly likely sustained more than 6,000 casualties in offensive combat operations against Ukrainian forces in the Russian oblast of Kursk.
- The total casualties amount to more than half of the approximately 11,000 DPRK troops initially deployed to the Kursk region. Open-source reports suggest DPRK has subsequently deployed limited numbers of additional troops to Kursk. Significant DPRK casualty rates have almost certainly been sustained primarily through large, highly attritional dismounted assaults.
- On 04 June 2025, Russian Security Council Secretary and ex-Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reportedly visited DPRK for a meeting with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, his second in less than three months. Shoigu has highly likely been a key interlocutor with DPRK regarding DPRK’s support to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
- DPRK operations have thus far been confined to the Kursk region. Any decision to deploy into internationally recognised, sovereign Ukrainian territory in support of Russian forces, would almost certainly require sign-off from both Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - June 15 2025.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 15, 2025
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/1vB3QSA41N#StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/E8DnAa64eZ
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