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North Korea confirmed for the first time on Monday that its troops are fighting in Ukraine, while Russian President Vladimir Putin praised North Korean soldiers who had died in battle alongside his own forces.
The twin statements, released within hours of each other, highlight Russia’s use of foreign soldiers in its war against Ukraine, according to analysts.
The statements followed a revelation from the investigative publication IStories, which reported on Friday that the 21-year-old son of a senior CIA official had died fighting for Russia.
The Central Intelligence Agency said in a statement to U.S. media over the weekend that Michael Gloss, the son of Juliane Gallina Gloss, a deputy director for digital innovation, died “while fighting in the conflict in Ukraine.”
Citing leaked government data, IStories reported that Michael Gloss had signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence in September 2023. Gloss’ death in April 2024 was confirmed in an obituary posted by his family.
IStories, an OCCRP member center operating in exile, has identified more than 1,500 foreigners recruited by Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
More than 3,300 foreigners have received Russian citizenship in exchange for military service, according to Frank Ledwidge, a former British military intelligence officer who now lectures at the University of Portsmouth.
“Russia employs various recruitment methods to attract foreign fighters, including promises of financial incentives… and citizenship,” he said.
However, Gloss seems to have had different motivations, Ledwidge added.
“It seems that Gloss was motivated by a bizarre mix of idealism and various conspiracy theories and ideals which do not seem to be particularly coherent,” he told OCCRP.
Gloss had abandoned his studies in the U.S., where he majored in human ecology, and traveled through Europe and the Middle East, IStories reported. Disillusioned with U.S. foreign policy and capitalism, he gravitated to a counter-cultural movement called the Rainbow Family, before travelling to Russia and joining the military.
“I find it a little surprising that he was placed into or volunteered for an assault unit,” said Ledwidge. “These men do not have a long life-expectancy, and I wonder if this was deliberate on the part of Russian commanders.”
He added that recruiting people like Gloss “reflects broader trends in the evolving nature of the war in Ukraine” where both sides have relied on “foreign fighters to supplement military forces.”
That trend was underscored by Monday's statements by Russia and North Korea, which is also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
“We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia,” Putin said in his statement, adding that they had helped retake the Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces seized last year.
However, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine disputed Putin’s claim. The military leadership said on the social media app Telegram that its troops were still fighting in Russia's Kursk region and called Putin's statement “nothing more than a propaganda ploy.”
