According to him, Since 2023, the DPRK has transferred 6.5 million artillery shells to the occupiers, which helped the Russian Federation maintain fire on the battlefield in 2024.
But now supplies have begun to fall – in In September 2025, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense did not register any deliveries, and about half of those received by the Russians in October had to be sent to factories in the Russian Federation for modernization;
Skibitsky pointed out that North Korea has begun mass production of drones of various types – from FPV to larger ones. North Korean manufacturers are studying, analyzing the experience of the war in Ukraine and increasing the pace of UAV production.
Context
In 2022, when the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began, North Korea began supplying weapons to the Russian Federation. In 2024, Moscow and Pyongyang signed an agreement providing for mutual military assistance in the event of aggression.
Since October 2024, North Korean troops have been taking part in the war against Ukraine on the side of the Russian Federation. According to Ukraine, at the beginning of 2025, 12 thousand military personnel arrived from the DPRK, 3.8 thousand of them died or were wounded.
On June 15, the British Ministry of Defense reported that approximately half of the DPRK military personnel whom Russia involved in the war against Ukraine in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation were allegedly killed, wounded or missing.
On June 26, Reuters, citing the National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea, wrote that North Korea may send more troops to Russia in July or August to participate in the war in Ukraine.
On June 30, North Korean state television showed footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un mourning soldiers allegedly killed in Russia's war against Ukraine.
On July 2, CNN, citing Ukrainian intelligence, reported that North Korea intends to send from 25 thousand to 30 thousand troops to the war against Ukraine.
On September 2, the Yonhap agency, citing NIS, reported that approximately 2 thousand North Korean troops died in the war against Ukraine.
