Russia is helping Pyongyang evade sanctions and develop its nuclear capabilities in exchange for North Korean troops and missiles, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told The Economist in a commentary published on October 22.

Budanov previously revealed that nearly 11,000 North Korean troops are already in Russia and will be ready to fight by November 1.

The move would signal a deepening of military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, with North Korea already supplying Russia with artillery shells and ballistic missiles for the war against Ukraine.

Russia’s support for nuclear capabilities includes providing technologies for smaller tactical nuclear weapons and missile launch systems for submarines, Budanov claimed.

Dodging sanctions could also be crucial for North Korea, which faces severe economic restrictions on its nuclear program. Russia has blocked the extension of a UN monitoring program overseeing Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Speaking to The Economist, the Ukrainian spy chief said the military personnel sent to Russia included 500 officers and three generals. A contingent of 2,600 troops should soon arrive in the Kursk Oblast, a Russian border area partly controlled by Ukraine.

North Korean troops are currently undergoing training in Khabarovsk Krai in Russia’s far east, Budanov said.

He said Pyongyang has also provided Russia with 2.8 million artillery shells and an unspecified number of ballistic missiles, which are maintained by North Korean crews.

Kiev and Seoul have repeatedly raised alarms about North Korea’s transfer of personnel to Russia, although the reports have not been confirmed by US or other Western officials.

North Korea has denied the reports, while a Kremlin spokesman gave an evasive response to the issue.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Ukraine’s allies to increase pressure on North Korea and called for a “concrete response” to the country’s escalating military support for Russia’s full-scale war.

Two North Korean brigades of about 6,000 men each are currently being trained in Russia, Zelensky said in his evening speech, citing military intelligence reports. He also said impoverished North Korea is likely to receive financial support for its military aid.

North Korea helps Russia in Ukraine ‘for money’, Zelensky says

At a meeting attended by the Kyiv Independent, Zelensky was asked about Pyongyang’s increasing support for Moscow, which is said to have evolved from just weapons to boots on the ground in recent days.