Ukraine's military intelligence deputy chief said Friday that roughly 8,500 North Korean soldiers are operating inside Russia — most of them in Kursk Oblast — including a 400-strong drone unit capable of surveying and striking targets inside Ukraine. [1][2]

Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitskyi told CNN many of those operators already carry combat experience from earlier rotations, working alongside thousands of North Korean engineers and clearance specialists dispersed across the region. [2] The arrangement keeps Pyongyang's forces inside Russia, reinforcing rear areas and freeing Russian manpower for the front. [1]

The ledger behind the headline is the story. Kyiv estimates about 25,000 DPRK troops have rotated through Russia since October 2024, and expects Vladimir Putin to ask Kim Jong Un for as many as 50,000 more when the two meet in September. [1] The payment terms are explicit: North Korea has requested the S-400 air defense system and has already taken delivery of a Pantsir-S1. [3] Rear-area duty sounds marginal until you count what it frees: every North Korean sentry is a Russian rifleman redeployed toward the front. [1]

ISW adds the apprenticeship detail — Rubikon Center unmanned-systems elements work the same Sumy-Kursk border belt, positioned to pass drone lessons directly to North Korean units. [1]

The exchange runs in both directions. Moscow rents manpower and magazines; Pyongyang banks air-defense systems and a drone curriculum taught at the border, one rotation at a time.

-- DAVID CHEN, Beijing