Kim Yo Jong Rejects Zelenskiy's Claim of 50,000 More North Korean Troops for Russia

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior ruling party official, has dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's assertion that Pyongyang intends to deploy up to 50,000 additional troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.

In a statement carried by state media KCNA on Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong described Zelenskiy's estimate as "groundless" and called it a "self-staged incident." Zelenskiy had made the claim earlier this month on X, while also urging South Korea to provide air defence support to Ukraine.

Kim Yo Jong placed the blame for the outbreak and continuation of the Ukraine crisis squarely on the United States and the West. Her remarks come amid ongoing international scrutiny of North Korea's military cooperation with Russia.

According to Ukrainian and independent assessments, Pyongyang has already supplied Moscow with millions of artillery and mortar rounds, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery, and multiple-launch rocket systems. In 2024, North Korea also sent an estimated 14,000 soldiers to Russia's Kursk region under a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang in June of that year.

In her statement, Kim Yo Jong also addressed recent comments by US President Donald Trump, who said on Monday that he had received a response from Kim Jong Un after reducing the scale of US joint military drills with South Korea and describing North Korea as "unthreatening and respectful."

Kim Yo Jong acknowledged that the relationship between the two leaders was "truly great" but insisted that Washington's "hostile policy" toward Pyongyang remains unchanged. She noted that the US continues to conduct joint drills with Seoul, which she said threaten North Korea's national security. She also said she was unaware of any recent direct communications between the two countries' leaders.