Ten thousand North Korean soldiers currently stationed in Russia, Zelensky says

According to Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this in an interview with Kyodo News.

10,000 North Korean soldiers are currently in Russia. It is extremely dangerous that they are gaining knowledge about modern hybrid warfare. They are learning to counter missiles and various types of drones, including fiber-optic drones, from FPV to long-range. They are currently training in Russia because we are responding to Russian attacks. So they have this opportunity, Zelensky said.

He warned that they would bring at least this knowledge and experience back to North Korea.

As reported by Ukrinform, according to the Defense Intelligence, as of January 2026, a group of North Korean troops was stationed in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, from where it carried out attacks on border communities in Ukraine.

Photo: Volodymyr Zelensky / Telegram