NK Forces Expand Footprint in Russia: About 11,000 North Korean Troops in Kursk by 2026
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service says roughly 11,000 North Korean troops—about 10,000 combat forces and 1,000 engineers—are stationed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast as of early 2026 to back Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The report adds that around 1,100 soldiers who returned from the front in December 2025 could be redeployed, and NK casualties in Kursk are cited at about 6,000 by the NIS, with UK defense intelligence placing losses above that figure, underscoring a deepening North Korea–Russia military partnership.
