North Korea coordinating reconnaissance in Ukraine in first direct support of Moscow’s war aims

North Korean soldiers based inside Russia’s Kursk region are coordinating reconnaissance operations and military strikes in Ukraine, marking the first example of Pyongyang directly supporting Moscow’s war in sovereign Ukrainian territory, British officials said Friday.

In their latest analysis of the battlefield in Ukraine, U.K. military intelligence officials said North Korean drone operators are reportedly assisting Russian forces that are using multiple launch rocket systems to attack Ukrainian positions in the country’s Sumy oblast.

North Korea “highly likely” launched reconnaissance drone missions and tactical strikes against Ukrainian forces operating inside the Kursk region in the past, but their primary role was as shock troops conducting offensive infantry operations. They are “highly likely seeking to exploit opportunities afforded by the conflict to improve [their] warfighting capability, including [drone] proficiency,” British officials said on X.

Pyongyang has sustained more than 6,000 casualties in offensive operations against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk oblast, more than half of the roughly 11,000 who were initially deployed to the region. 

Any decision to deploy North Korean troops into internationally recognized and sovereign Ukrainian territory would almost certainly require formal approval from both Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, British officials said.