North Korean forces deployed to Russia's Kursk region have shifted from frontline assaults to artillery operations, creating significant challenges for Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian lawmaker Yehor Cherniev emphasized that artillery shells, not soldiers, pose the biggest problem in this sector. North Korea has supplied Russia with millions of artillery shells and multiple rocket launcher ammunition during the conflict.

Initially deployed in fall 2024 to help Moscow recapture territory lost in Ukraine's surprise incursion, North Korean troops numbered around 11,000 at their peak. Their role evolved from brutal infantry assaults to drone reconnaissance and artillery operations. Cherniev noted that only a limited number of soldiers were involved in Kursk, but their artillery capabilities have proven more problematic.

The deployment represents a dramatic expansion of Pyongyang's involvement in the conflict, following a mutual defense pact signed with Moscow in 2024. Western intelligence estimates thousands of North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded. Ukraine's military intelligence agency reports these forces continue launching attacks with artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems while using reconnaissance drones to adjust their strikes.