⑤ The tragedy of Sumi, the city adjacent to the deployment of North Korean troops

It has been more than four years since the UkraineRussia war broke out. At the outset, no one thought this war would last this long. There is still no sign of an end. In the meantime, as war has erupted between the United StatesIsrael and Iran, the world has been drawn into two major wars.

The Ukrainian government maintains that it cannot cede even a patch of territory. However, it is realistically difficult to recover the Crimean Peninsula and the Donbas region that Russia occupies. Parts of the fierce battlefield near Zaporizhzhia, where a nuclear power plant is located, have also been seized by Russia. On August 6, 2024, Ukraine pushed elite units across the Russian border and captured Kursk. Kursk is home to one of Russia's three nuclear power plants, the Kursk NPP. In particular, the city of Sudzha in Kursk, which hosts a gateway for Russian natural gas bound for Europe, carried great strategic value.

Ukraine's advance on Kursk had the effect of dispersing the Russian firepower concentrated on the eastern front (Donbas). It was expected to serve as a card for a future end-of-war negotiation, to trade for Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia. As the first case since World War II of Russia's heartland being occupied by foreign troops, it posed a heavy political burden inside Russia. To defend Kursk, forces fighting in Donbas would have to be sent there, which could dilute manpower and weaken combat power. This was an important reason Russia wanted North Korean troops deployed.

There is Sumi (Sumi) Oblast, which both lies on the route to Kursk from within Ukraine and faces the Russian border. In Ukrainian it is called “Sumska.” The road to Sumi was difficult and inconvenient. Among foreign correspondents, the checkpoints on the way to Sumi have a notorious reputation. Sometimes it takes as little as two hours, but it can take as long as six. At times, you can even be ordered on the spot to turn back the way you came. To report in Sumi, there are many approvals you must obtain. You need reporting permits from at least six or more places, including the Sumi Oblast administration, the intelligence service, and the Ministry of National Defense, and you must have those certificates to pass the checkpoints. Even after showing IDs, press cards, and various permits at a checkpoint, we waited more than two hours.

Because Sumi Oblast is geographically close to Kursk, it is a region about which the Ukrainian government is extremely sensitive. Tensions are at their peak, and the media can easily be suspected of espionage. In the summer of 2024, with an unannounced military advance, Sumi stood in the very middle of the war. In Stetskivka, a village near the city of Sumi, there is not a single intact house. Oleg (38) said, “When large columns of tanks and trucks cut through downtown Sumi heading north, we did not know what was happening,” adding, “Our forces crossed the border, and all kinds of shells and missiles came from Kursk to the north over into Sumi.” Residents of Sumi did not know exactly what was unfolding to the north, but they could tell that Sumi had become the most dangerous city in Ukraine.

Missiles and shells flying in from across the border in Kursk turned the village into a wasteland. Another resident, Natalia, said, “Kursk is really close from here. It is only about a 30-minute drive,” and, “The missiles that come every day are truly horrific.” She added with a sad expression, “Yesterday, the apartment where our son lives in the city of Sumi was also bombed.” Throughout the city of Sumi, concrete temporary shelters have been installed. They are little more than rectangular structures, but when bombardment comes, you can jump in to take cover. That does not mean everyone can be saved, but in an emergency even this is better than nothing. Air-raid sirens sound at all hours. Most buildings have plywood fixed over their windows. One resident said, “There are days when the air-raid siren goes off a hundred times. At night, in the evening, in the daytimeit sounds at any time,” adding, “As you can see, we are in Sumi Oblast, about 2025 km from the border. Everything around here has been destroyed.” The siren sounded even as he spoke.

Nadiya Sorokolit, head of Kordon Media, a local outlet in Sumi, said, “Since the Kursk operation, the Sumi region has quite literally become ‘a completely different world,’” adding, “Unfortunately, the security situation has deteriorated to an extreme.” “Among the most representative threats are drones,” she said. Given Sumi's proximity to Kursk, cheap and nimble drones proved more effective strike weapons than expensive missiles. Things come flying in at all hours, and a substantial share of them are drones. One citizen said, “More drones fly over Sumi than birds.”

The power of drones was immense. On May 17, 2025, near Bilopillia in Sumy Oblast, a civilian bus was hit by a drone attack, killing nine and injuring seven. Buses were prime targets for drones. Drones chase buses, collide, and explode. When drones come in with intent, civilians have no chance to evade them. Their explosive power is strong; if you are surrounded by drones, you do not survive. Nearly every bus in Sumi Oblast has come under attack. At the depot of Electroavtotrans, the state-run city bus company on the outskirts of Sumi, wrecked buses sit abandoned everywhere. Peeling back a plastic cover, director Ivan Viktorovych Koreniev said, “All the passengers on this bus were killed by drone shrapnel and the blast.” Before the war, no one could have imagined that buses, the people's means of getting around, would become targets of bombardment. As drones strike residents' living spaces, schools, an parks in Sumi Oblast, fear has reached a peak.

Recently, a drone was discovered whose footage clearly showed the face of a North Korean soldier. In video released by Ukraine's intelligence service, a man believed to be a North Korean soldier is seen handling a device with a camera attached. Last October, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine issued a statement on social media saying, “North Korean UAV operators adjusted multiple-launch rocket system barrages toward Ukrainian military bases.” It added, “In the Kursk area, North Korean units are conducting reconnaissance operations using drones,” and, “They identify Ukrainian positions and help adjust bombardments of bases in the Sumi region.” Ukraine also said it had eavesdropped on communications between North Korean drone operators and Russian soldiers.

With these facts made public, residents of Sumi are showing strong hostility toward North Korean troops. At the entrance to the market in the quiet village of Chupakhivka on the outskirts of Sumi Oblast, a woman named Hanna said, “We call Kim Jong-un ‘Pumpkin’.” She added, “They say North Korea sent 10,000 soldiers; I don't know why that idiot can't just sit still,” and, “His own people are starving, and he is putting his citizens' lives at risk,” expressing anger. Another resident, Hiliya, said with tears in her eyes, “To side with Russia… how can someone like that call himself a ruler?” Out shopping in the morning, Svetlana, when asked what she would say if she could tell North Koreans one thing, said, “I would tell them not to come here,” and raised her voice: “Mind your own house, and do not interfere in the affairs of our Ukraine.”

There are many ambulances on the highway to Sumi Oblast. The ambulances bear the Taegeukgi. They are buses provided as aid from Korea. There has also been much aid in farm machinery, they said. Oleg Oleksiyovych, governor of Sumi Oblast, said, “Most of the buses that were the residents' feet were bombed, and residents lost their freedom of movement, but thankfully the Korean people and government sent us buses.” According to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Ukraine, as part of humanitarian assistance to restore infrastructure destroyed by the war and ensure civilians' freedom of movement, “Korean buses” were delivered. A total of 60 buses delivered to Sumi Oblast were donated through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

Valeriia, a civil servant in Sumi Oblast, said, “With the original buses destroyed by the war and public transportation in Sumi Oblast paralyzed, the Korean buses are serving as a real ‘lifeline’ for local residents.” Citizens of Sumi call the buses donated by Korea the proper noun “Korean buses.” Governor Oleg said, “We have not met Koreans in person,” adding, “When the war ends and Koreans come to our Sumi Oblast, we would like to give them a warm welcome along with words of thanks.” He continued, “It is a pity that we cannot deliver this directly to Koreans,” and repeatedly asked, “Please be sure to pass this along.”

As of 2026, in Sumi Oblast, the frightening drones of North Korean troops and the welcome Korean buses share the same time and space. This is a very exceptional situation even for residents of Sumi. The tragedy born of the Korean Peninsula's division is affecting Sumi, in the far-off land of Ukraine.<End of series>