SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korean troops for preventing Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk area, after North Korea on Monday confirmed the deployment for the primary time.
In an announcement Monday from the Kremlin, Putin hailed the heroism and dedication of the North Korean fighters, who he mentioned “shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, defended our Motherland as their very own.”
Russia on Saturday mentioned its troops have absolutely reclaimed the Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a shock incursion final yr. Ukrainian officers denied the declare.
U.S., South Korean and Ukraine intelligence officers have mentioned North Korea dispatched 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia final fall in its first participation in a significant armed battle because the finish of the 1950-53 Korean Battle. However North Korea hadn’t confirmed or denied its reported troop deployments to Russia till Monday.
North Korean chief Kim Jong Un determined to ship the fight troops to Russia below a mutual protection treaty he and Putin signed in June 2024, the North’s Central Army Fee mentioned in an announcement carried by state media. The treaty — thought of the 2 nations’ largest protection settlement because the finish of the Chilly Battle — requires each nations to make use of all accessible means to supply instant army help if both is attacked.
The assertion cited Kim as saying the deployment was meant to “annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk space in cooperation with the Russian armed forces.”
“They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland,” Kim mentioned.
Kim mentioned {that a} monument will quickly be erected in Pyongyang to mark North Korea’s battle feats and that flowers might be laid earlier than the tombstones of the fallen troopers. Kim mentioned the federal government should take steps to preferentially deal with and maintain the households of the troopers who took half within the struggle.
The North Korean assertion didn’t say what number of troops North Korea ultimately despatched and what number of of them had died. However in March, South Korea’s army mentioned that round 4,000 North Korean troopers had been killed or wounded within the Russia-Ukraine struggle fronts. the South Korean army additionally assessed on the time that North Korea despatched about 3,000 further troops to Russia earlier this yr.
North Korean soldiers are extremely disciplined and properly skilled, however observers say they’ve develop into straightforward targets for drone and artillery assaults on Russian-Ukraine battlefields attributable to their lack of fight expertise and unfamiliarity with the terrain. Nonetheless, Ukrainian army and intelligence officers have assessed that the North Koreans gained crucial battlefield experience and have been key to Russia’s technique of overwhelming Ukraine by throwing massive numbers of troopers into the battle for Kursk.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry on Monday urged North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia instantly, saying the North’s help of Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine poses a grave provocation to worldwide safety. Spokesperson Koo Byoungsam additionally referred to as the North’s troops’ deployment “an act towards humanity” that has sacrificed younger North Korean troopers for his or her authorities.
In a Kremlin assembly Saturday, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the overall workers for Russia’s armed forces, knowledgeable Putin of Russia’s regaining of the Kursk area. Gerasimov additionally confirmed that North Korean troopers fought alongside Russia to repel Ukrainian troops from the Kursk area and “demonstrated excessive professionalism, confirmed fortitude, braveness and heroism in battle.”
Ukraine’s Common Employees countered that its defensive operation in sure areas in Kursk was persevering with.
If confirmed, Russia’s victory in Kursk would deprive Ukraine of key leverage in U.S.-brokered efforts to barter an finish to the greater than 3-year-old struggle by exchanging its positive factors for a few of Russia-occupied land in Ukraine.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Vatican Metropolis on the sidelines of funeral of Pope Francis to debate a possible ceasefire deal. Shortly after arriving in Rome on Friday, Trump mentioned on social media that Ukraine and Russia ought to meet for “very high-level talks” on ending the struggle. However lower than 24 hours later, Trump mentioned he doubted Putin’s willingness to finish the struggle.
North Korea has been supplying an unlimited quantity of conventional weapons to Russia as properly. South Korea, the U.S. and their companions fear that Russia may reward North Korea by transferring high-tech weapons technologies that may sharply improve its nuclear weapons program. North Korea is anticipated to obtain financial and different assistance from Russia as properly.
Related Press author Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.
