In 2025, North Korean Leader Kim Jung Un admitted he sent 15,000 North Korean troops to Russia to fight in the Russo-Ukraine war. According to Al Jazeera, it is believed the North Korean leader was paid generously by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. This military exchange differs from the importing of African soldiers into Russia. However, the purpose is the same: North Korean troops are sent to the borders of Ukraine. Because North Koreans have minimal training in this military campaign, drone warfare by Ukraine is effective. Additionally, many North Koreans avoid becoming prisoners of war by committing suicide. 

In the Russo-Ukraine war, drone warfare is a fairly common tactic. According to Mykhailo Samus, Director of the New Geopolitics Research Network, Co-founder of the Consortium for Defense Information, and veteran of the Ukrainian armed forces, drone warfare is an essential strategy for the Ukrainian military because Ukraine needs to compromise for Russia’s numerical military advantage. While the Russians have had time to adjust to this defense mechanism, which Samus says dramatically increased in 2022, the new North Korean soldiers in Russia have not. Though there is evidence of North Korea having drones, there is limited information about how the regime has involved drone technology militarily (38 North). It does not seem like North Korean soldiers are familiar with Ukrainian drones outside of their experience on the Russian front line. 

Al Jazeera shared a South Korean documentary from 101East that interviews North Korean prisoners of war. In these interviews, the P.O.W.s describe their shame as P.O.W.s, as it is viewed as a disgrace under the regime. In North Korea, being captured by another country is considered an act of treason, and the offense affects multiple generations of families. In the documentary, the P.O.W.s discuss their fears of returning to North Korea and of their families’ whereabouts. 

The P.O.W.s being interviewed are hesitant to express their plans of returning to North Korea if a trade were to occur or applying for asylum. However, they eventually come to the conclusion that they want asylum, even admitting it on camera. Though, one P.O.W. felt as if asylum was unlikely to occur, especially from South Korea. There is a clear issue here for the North Korean P.O.W.s, because there is harm in returning to their country of origin. Their situation is unique, and the opportunity to assist individuals from oppressive regimes must be an international moral issue. 

Russia has been recruiting non-Russians in the war against Ukraine because they are desperate for bodies to fight. According to C.N.N., as of January of 2026, Russia has had 1.2 million casualties since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As this war continues, more and more non-Russians will die on the frontlines. First, Russia began importing African men by luring them under false job pretenses. Then, the leader of a notoriously closed society–Kim Jung Un of North Korea–sent off multiple thousand troops, which is unprecedented in North Korean history. 

It is essential for the international community to halt the importation of individuals as soldiers in the Russo-Ukraine war; if Russia cannot import international individuals, Russia will lose the war against Ukraine. If not, the conflict will continue, and innocent men will be sent to die in a war that was never theirs.