https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-5-2026/Excerpts:
North Korea has escalated its involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine, reportedly deploying missileers and over 100 ballistic missiles to Russia. Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Spokesperson Andriy Chernyak told Reuters in an article published on August 5 that an unspecified North Korean missile unit has started to deploy to western Russia, possibly equipped with 120 ballistic missiles of an unspecified model and six missile launchers.
'Chernyak stated that Russia plans to base the North Korean missile unit, which includes about 90 North Korean soldiers, in Voronezh Oblast within Russia's 112th Missile Brigade (1st Guards Tank Army, Moscow Military District). It is unclear if the North Korean elements are deploying to a forward deployment area of the 112th Missile Brigade in Voronezh Oblast, as the brigade is based in Ivanovo Oblast.
Chernyak added that North Korea already sent a batch of 40 North Korean KN-23/24 ballistic missiles and personnel to Russia but that top-level talks in September 2026 will finalize the configuration and number of missiles of this planned deployment.
Chernyak noted that the North Korean missile that Russian forces used in their strike on July 29 to 30 came from the earlier batch of 40 North Korean-provided missiles. Reuters’ Ukrainian military sources stated that the KN-23/24 missiles have a greater range and can carry larger payloads than Russia's Iskander-M ballistic missiles but are less accurate and have often led to high civilian casualties. Russia's use of North Korean missiles will also provide North Korea with battlefield testing and feedback to improve the missiles - as Russia and North Korea have done in the past
North Korea previously sent infantry, sappers, and construction workers to Kursk Oblast in late October 2024, and North Korea's deployment of missileers is new and noteworthy.
North Korea seems to be trying to gain combined arms knowledge from its involvement in Russia's war. North Korean missileers will bring new combat lessons to North Korea beyond those that North Korean soldiers previously gained fighting and operating in Kursk Oblast.
It is unclear why North Korea chose to deploy its missileers and missiles to Russia now, but Russia and North Korea may aim to take advantage of Ukraine's current depleted stocks of ballistic missile interceptors to test the performance of North Korean missiles, including those possibly launched by North Korean soldiers operating North Korean launchers.
The addition of more North Korean missiles to Russia's arsenal will likely allow Russia to intensify its ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine in the near future without having to dip into its S-400 and Zirkon missile stocks. Russia increasingly leveraged Zirkon and altered S-400 missiles (both of which follow ballistic trajectories) in its July 2026 strikes, likely to offset the strain on Russia's traditional ballistic missile production and stockpiles.
Ukrainian defense source Militarnyi estimated on July 19 that Russia had used up to two-thirds of its planned annual production of Zirkon missiles in just the first 19 days of July 2026.[26] A Ukrainian defense expert, citing data from the GUR, reported on July 23 that Russian forces have been able to intensify their ballistic missile strikes by increasingly relying on altered S-400 systems.
The addition of roughly 160 North Korean ballistic missiles will allow Russia to increase the number of ballistic missiles in each strike package or to sustain similarly sized packages for longer. The North Korean missiles, with their higher payloads but lower accuracy, will likely cause higher degrees of destruction and casualties, particularly among civilian infrastructure and civilians.
