Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday thanked North Korea for sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday thanked North Korea for sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Moscow’s war against Ukraine and vowed not to forget their sacrifices.
Putin’s comments came just hours after North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to fight Ukrainian forces.
Russia said two days earlier that its troops had fully reclaimed the Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces seized last year. Ukrainian officials have denied Russia’s claim and said that the operation in certain areas of Kursk is ongoing.
In a statement, Putin praised North Korean troops who he said fought «shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, defended our Motherland as their own.»
«The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the DPRK special forces», Putin said. «We will always honor the heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, fighting side by side with their Russian brothers in arms.»
Earlier Monday, North Korea’s Central Military Commission said the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, had sent troops to Russia to «annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces.
