Even before the Alaska summit, Putin had been assured of continued military support from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Does Putin want peace in Ukraine?
"I see no signs that Vladimir Putin wants a just peace," said Russia expert Margarete Klein in an interview with DW. "He is trying to force Ukraine to surrender," says the head of the Russia and Eurasia research group at the German Foundation for International and Security Affairs (SWP), which also advises the German government. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had previously expressed similar views in another interview with DW. SWP researcher Klein emphasizes the unlimited military assistance offered by the North Korean regime.
Artillery: 40% of ammunition from North Korea
“In some categories of weapons, this assistance is even essential, sometimes even more important than Iran’s overt support or China’s covert support for war components,” Klein said. North Korea, for example, delivered 5.8 million artillery shells by April 2025.
These figures are confirmed by various sources, including analysis by the Open Source Center, which examined North Korean shipments using satellite imagery, for example.
“It all amounts to 40 percent of Russia’s ammunition reserves in this area. These deliveries are essential for Russia,” Klein said. Russia is replenishing its rapidly dwindling reserves with supplies from North Korea in order to “make progress in the war on the ground.”
In addition, North Korea is also supplying ballistic missiles, multiple launch rocket systems and long-range artillery. The Russian expert is confident: "Overall, this is the most comprehensive package of bilateral arms deliveries that Russia has received from another country since 2022," Klein told DW.
Up to 11,000 North Korean soldiers helped Russia liberate territories in the Russian Kursk region that had been occupied by Ukraine in a surprise operation. According to a statement by Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi in January 2025, nearly 5,000 of them were killed or wounded in the Ukrainian retreat from Kursk. However, these figures cannot be independently verified.
North Korean leader Kim recently paid tribute to his soldiers in Russia, saying they had fought "heroically" so far, North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported.
Russian forces from Kursk to Zaporizhia front
North Korean soldiers are apparently helping Russia free up forces from the Kursk region to fight on the southern front in Ukraine, according to statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with journalists in Kiev, to which Deutsche Welle was also invited.
After Putin's meeting with Trump and the European summit in Washington, Zelensky did not only discuss the political situation. Regarding the current military movements by Russia in Ukraine, he said: "We can see that they continue to move some of their troops from Kursk to Zaporizhia." In a recently published video post, the Ukrainian president said that the military must respond with stronger counterattacks.
Russia expert Margarete Klein told DW in an interview that North Korea's help allows Russia to spare its own troops "for offensive operations in Ukraine." The Kremlin also uses the deployment of North Korean soldiers for propaganda purposes: as a sign that Russia has allies. "In general, the Russian leadership is trying to hide its huge losses from within," says Klein.
The high Russian losses in Ukraine are also having consequences for the arms industry. Meanwhile, workers and "North Korean specialists for the arms industry and hybrid operations" are being offered, Klein said in an interview with DW. The reports match information from a meeting of Ukraine's National Security Council in Kiev in June.
Kyiv: Russia has mobilization problems
At the time, a spokesman told DW: "The deployment of North Korea's elite troops from Russia indicates not only its growing dependence on totalitarian regimes, but also serious problems with its mobilization reserves." According to sources unverifiable by Western intelligence services, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il spoke with the Kremlin yesterday about sending another contingent of his soldiers.
Russia expert Margarete Klein makes it clear that Putin has not changed. Even after the meetings between Putin and Trump in Alaska, "there is still no signal from Moscow that they are really willing to engage in meaningful negotiations and want to end this war," says Klein./DW
