About 2,300 North Korean soldiers have died fighting for Russia against Ukraine, according to a BBC investigation based on satellite images and official photos of a new memorial in Pyongyang.
South Korea estimates at least 11,000 North Koreans were sent to help Russia recapture parts of western Kursk after Ukraine's August 2024 incursion. The secretive regime has never disclosed the death toll, but the newly unveiled Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at Overseas Military Operations offers observable clues.
In October 2025, Kim Jong Un ordered the construction of the museum in Pyongyang's Hwasong district. The complex includes two 30-meter-long memorial walls engraved with names. BBC analysis of KCNA images shows each wall has 9 sections with names, each containing about 16 columns, with 8 names per column. This yields approximately 1,152 names per wall and a total of about 2,304 across both.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service previously estimated 2,000 killed and 2,700 wounded. By February 2026, that figure rose to roughly 6,000 total casualties out of 11,000 deployed. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have provided official numbers.
The memorial also features a graveyard with about 278 graves and a columbarium capable of housing at least 1,000 urns, suggesting the actual death toll may be higher. Analysts say the monument serves to justify the deployment and maintain public support, signaling North Korea's continued military cooperation with Russia.