North Korea will send between 30,000 and 50,000 troops to fight for Russia, up from roughly 30,000 in July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview on Ukraine's national telethon on 8 August, reported by the Guardian's Ukraine war briefing.

If at first we were talking about hundreds, then thousands, now a decision has been made for between 30,000 and 50,000 North Koreans to be on the territory of Russia.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Pyongyang is using the war to "build its experience in modern warfare, receive licences from Russia, and receive all kinds of military tools from them," Zelenskyy said, per the same briefing.

About 14,000 North Korean troops fought to retake Russia's Kursk region in 2024, with thousands killed or wounded, and a North Korean missile unit began moving into western Russia earlier this month with up to 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers, the Guardian reported. Pyongyang has supplied Moscow with millions of artillery rounds and long-range rocket systems.

Zelenskyy used the briefing to appeal to Seoul, saying "Ukraine would very much like to receive support from South Korea in an area where we have a shortage," meaning air defence. UNITED24 Media reported he acknowledged South Korea's domestic legal limits on arming a war zone.

Hypothesis: a deployment nearing 50,000 would give Pyongyang combat experience and Russian weapons technology that reshapes deterrence on the Korean peninsula, raising the stakes for Seoul and for a China wary of a more capable, more independent North Korea. Supporting this: Zelenskyy paired the troop figures with a direct appeal for Seoul to arm Ukraine. Against this: the number is his own estimate, unconfirmed by Seoul, Moscow or Pyongyang, and his July figure has already moved once.

What to watch: confirmation or denial from South Korea's intelligence service, which tracked the deployment, and whether Seoul loosens its arms-export rules in response.