North Korean Soldiers Shell Ukrainian Border Areas With Artillery – Defense Intelligence

Russia is involving North Korean (DPRK) soldiers in gun and rocket artillery strikes on Ukraine’s border areas.

Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) reported on this.

As of January 2026, a contingent of North Korean troops is stationed in Russia’s Kursk region.

From this territory, they regularly carry out attacks on Ukrainian border communities.

Under Russian command, North Korean soldiers, in particular, are firing tube artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS).

In addition, they conduct aerial and artillery reconnaissance and adjust MLRS fire.

Ukrainian intelligence officials note that one of the key objectives of the Korean military’s participation in the war against Ukraine is to master unmanned technologies and gain experience in modern combat operations.

“Under the agreements between Moscow and Pyongyang, the rotation of military personnel stationed in the Kursk region is carried out regularly,” the DIU reported.

Over the entire period of North Korea’s participation in the war against Ukraine, about 3,000 soldiers have already returned to their homeland.

Most of them have become military instructors, tasked with passing on the experience of modern warfare to other DPRK troops.

North Korea sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024, most of them to the Kursk region. Artillery ammunition, missiles, and long-range systems were delivered along with the troops. Pyongyang officially acknowledged the participation of its forces in the war only in April 2025.

Last November, South Korean intelligence sources reported that another 5,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Russia since the start of autumn 2025.