Thousands of North Koreans fought for Russia. A memorial hints at the death toll

Nearly 2,300 North Korean soldiers died fighting against Ukraine on Russia’s behalf, according to a BBC investigation based on satellite images and official photographs of a new monument in Pyongyang.

South Korea estimates that at least 11,000 North Koreans were sent to Russia to help recapture parts of western Kursk after Ukraine launched a surprise attack on Kursk in August 2024.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has previously paid tribute to soldiers killed in the war, and Pyongyang is believed to have received food, money and technical assistance from Moscow in return for providing troops.

The secret regime never disclosed the number of casualties in the operation at Kursk, which Russia said it had fully recaptured; But for the first time, a new monument offers observable clues; They tell us this.

Names on the walls

In October 2025, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the construction of a museum in Pyongyang’s Hwasong district in memory of soldiers killed in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Work began in a heavily forested area in the same month, according to BBC analysis of satellite images provided by US imaging company Planet Labs.

The primitive crust of the 52 square kilometer complex was seen in December. By March, most of the exterior construction appeared to be complete. Landscaping and environmental facilities were completed last month.

The Memorial Museum of Combat Skills in Overseas Military Operations, opened on April 26, aims to convey the “unrivalled courage” of North Korean soldiers during their deployment for “liberation”. [the] Kursk region,” according to state news agency KCNA.

The monument consists of two 30 m (98 ft) long memorial walls with names engraved on them, a building and a cemetery.

BBC analysis of multiple images released by KCNA shows that each wall was divided into approximately 14 sections marked by gray stone lines at the top. Nine of these sections have names engraved on them, each containing about 16 columns, according to a BBC calculation.

Close-up photos of the eastern wall, where the eight names of the slain soldiers are written on a column, can be seen.

With 16 columns and nine sections, this means 1,152 names are carved on each wall; This corresponds to a total of 2,304 names on both memorial walls.

Songhak Chung, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Security Strategy, also agreed with the BBC’s findings.

“The memorial walls are filled with the names of fallen soldiers written in extremely small letters. Considering the surface area and text density, the number of people registered here is likely to reach several thousand,” he says.

The exact figure cannot be determined due to the lack of high-resolution images, but the BBC’s estimate is close to the figure suggested by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).

In September 2025, the spy agency said nearly 2,000 North Korean soldiers were killed and another 2,700 were injured.

But by February this year, the NIS updated the figure to say that about 6,000 of the estimated 11,000 military personnel deployed to Russia had been killed or wounded, but did not provide a breakdown of the figures. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow gave any official figures.

‘Tiered system’

Korean research firm SI Analytics says the monument itself contains a “tiered system of commemoration.”

Soldiers who demonstrated “extraordinary bravery” are honored with outdoor tombs and tombstones, while others are commemorated on urns inside the columbarium.

Kim Jin-mu, a former senior research fellow at the government-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyzes, says those buried in the cemetery may include recovered bodies, high-ranking officers or specially known individuals, including those who made sacrifices.

According to a satellite image taken by SI Analytics in early April, there are approximately 140 graves on the west side of the cemetery and 138 on the opposite side.

Chung says there is also what looks like a gray building in the middle of the cemetery; probably a columbarium containing funeral ashes.

Describing the Columbarium, Chung says that “the entire wall appeared to be filled with grid-patterned storage compartments for remains.”

” [columbariam] Even excluding a three-story building and offices and exhibition spaces, the indoor warehouse alone could house at least 1,000 remains,” says Chung.

justification for war

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it was “difficult to verify” whether all of the killed soldiers were commemorated on the walls.

However, researcher Kim believes that the names of all North Korean soldiers who died at Kursk are written.

“The monument aims to reward those who made sacrifices for the state and maintained the support of the public,” he says. “Omitting names could create discontent among bereaved families and defeat the purpose.”

North Korean state media also reported that a housing complex for Russian war veterans and grieving families was being built in the same area. Citizens started to move in since March.

Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the state-run Korea National Unification Institute, says Pyongyang’s decision to build a monument dedicated to the slain soldiers reflects an effort to justify the deployment after huge losses.

“For North Korea, Russia is the only country with which it can cooperate militarily in its current isolation,” he says.

The monument also expresses Pyongyang’s willingness to maintain military cooperation with Russia “no matter how the war develops.”

Graphics by Arvin Supriyadi. Additional reporting by Grace Tsoi