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Pyongyang's Memorial Reveals Staggering Cost of North Korean Alliance with Russia

New satellite imagery and state-run museum confirm thousands of North Korean soldiers perished in the Ukraine war.

Foreign PolicyPublished May 7, 2026 at 10:20 PMProcessed May 8, 2026 at 9:45 PM
The image shows Kim Jong Un giving a speech at the centre. Behind him, there is a close-up of the wall with names of the troops on the left and a satellite image of the complex on the right.

The true cost of Kim Jong Un’s reckless military alliance with Moscow is finally coming to light, as a newly unveiled memorial in Pyongyang hints at the thousands of North Korean soldiers who have died fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Analysis of the 'Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at Overseas Military Operations' reveals walls engraved with roughly 2,300 names, aligning with intelligence reports that estimate at least 11,000 North Korean troops were deployed to the Kursk region.

This grim tally confirms that Pyongyang is trading the lives of its own citizens for food, cash, and technical support from the Kremlin.

While the secretive regime continues to hide the full scale of its casualties, the construction of this massive complex—complete with a columbarium capable of housing at least 1,000 sets of remains—serves as a desperate attempt to justify the heavy losses to its own people.

By honoring these troops, Kim Jong Un is signaling his continued commitment to a dangerous partnership that threatens global stability, regardless of the mounting death toll. The deployment, which began following Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk in 2024, underscores the deepening ties between two rogue states determined to challenge Western interests.

As these soldiers are sacrificed, the regime in Pyongyang is already working to buy domestic compliance by providing housing for the families of the fallen, proving once again that the North Korean state views its military personnel as nothing more than expendable assets in its pursuit of survival.

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north-korearussiaukraine-warkim-jong-unforeign-policy

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