Conflict · 50,000 troops · ArchiveZelensky Warns North Korea Preparing 50,000 Troops for RussiaAired August 9, 2026 at 2:50 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00In the last hour, Ukrainian President0:01[music] Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned0:03North Korea is preparing to deploy up to0:0550,000 troops to Russia [music] to0:07support its war in Ukraine. A second0:09development is already underway inside0:11Russia, moving the partnership from0:13warning to deployment on the ground. The0:15scale flagged is up to 50,000 North0:17Korean troops, a figure that would0:19represent a major addition to Russia's0:21manpower if deployed. Russia has already0:23begun deploying a North Korean [music]0:25missile unit of about 90 personnel to0:27the Voronezh region near the border with0:29Ukraine. The full 50,000 has not yet0:31materialized and the complete0:33operational status and armament [music]0:34of the missile unit now moving into0:35Voronezh is not yet confirmed. The two0:38moves point to a deepening military0:39partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang0:41[music] with direct stakes for Ukraine's0:42defense. Added battlefield manpower,0:45expanded missile capacity, [music] and0:47more weight behind Russia's attrition0:48strategy as the war continues.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗