Russian Safety Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on June 17 on a "particular project" from President Vladimir Putin, Russian state-controlled information company TASS reported on June 17.
Shoigu is anticipated to satisfy with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un through the go to, TASS mentioned, citing a correspondent on the bottom. The aim of the go to has not been formally disclosed, but it surely comes amid intensifying army cooperation between the 2 nations.
North Korea has emerged as one among Russia's closest army companions throughout its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since late 2023, Pyongyang has provided Moscow with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, not less than 100 ballistic missiles, and reportedly deployed greater than 11,000 troops to help Russian operations in Ukraine’s border areas.
In response to a June 15 report from the UK's protection intelligence, over 6,000 North Korean troopers have been killed or wounded throughout operations in Russia's Kursk Oblast. The U.Okay. mentioned Pyongyang's losses account for greater than half of the North Korean contingent deployed to the area in fall 2024. British officers attributed the excessive casualties to extremely attritional floor assaults.
Earlier this 12 months, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Employees reported that North Korea despatched a further 3,000 troopers to Russia in January and February to replenish losses.
In June 2024, Russia and North Korea signed a mutual protection pact obligating each international locations to supply army help within the occasion of an exterior assault. Although North Korea solely publicly acknowledged its participation in Russia's battle in opposition to Ukraine in April 2025, open-source stories and intelligence assessments have indicated its involvement since not less than the autumn of 2024.
The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Crew (MSMT), a United Nations-affiliated watchdog, reported in Could that North Korea and Russia had engaged in "illegal army cooperation" in violation of a number of UN Safety Council resolutions. This included arms transfers, deployment of fight troops, petroleum exports to North Korea exceeding UN caps, and mutual army coaching.
In response to MSMT findings, Russian-flagged vessels delivered as much as 9 million rounds of artillery and a number of rocket launcher ammunition from North Korea to southwestern Russia in 2024 alone. These weapons had been subsequently utilized in assaults in opposition to Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian targets in cities together with Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia.
Russia has additionally reportedly supplied superior army know-how to North Korea, together with ballistic missile steering techniques, digital warfare platforms, and short-range air protection techniques. One MSMT taking part state confirmed the switch of not less than one Pantsir-class car to Pyongyang.
Kim Jong Un described his nation's involvement in Russia's battle in opposition to Ukraine as a "sacred mission" throughout a public deal with in Could.
Shoigu's go to to North Korea comes amid intensified Russian aerial assaults throughout Ukraine, together with the usage of North Korean-made ballistic missiles containing elements sourced from third-party suppliers.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova