President Vladimir Putin confirmed that North Korean soldiers aided Russia’s military operations in Kursk. Moscow’s forces have now forced all Ukrainian troops out of Russian territory.

“Our North Korean friends’ move was guided by a sense of solidarity, justice and genuine comradery,” Putin said on Monday. “We highly appreciate this and are sincerely grateful, personally to the Chairman of the State Affairs Committee, Comrade Kim Jong-un, as well as to the entire leadership and the people of North Korea.”

The Kremlin explained the North Korean forces engaged in the battle for Kursk, a Russian region of Russia seized by Ukraine last summer. On Saturday, the Russian military announced its forces had driven the Ukrainian soldiers out of Kursk.

State media in Pyongyang celebrated the North Korean soldiers’ role in aiding Russia’s victory in Kursk. “It is a source of pride for our state and a [great] dignity for our people to have such excellent soldiers,” KCNA reported. “The victorious conclusion of the operations for liberating the Kursk area is a victory of justice over injustice and, at the same time, a new chapter of history which demonstrated the highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship between the DPRK and Russia.”

Moscow or Pyongyang did not disclose the significance of the North Korean troop presence in Russia. The North Korean statement referred to the soldiers in Russia as “sub-units.”

Both countries noted that North Korea’s deployment was in line with a treaty signed last year. KCNA explained:

On the basis of the analysis and judgement that the prevailing situation conformed to the invocation of Article 4 of the treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership concluded between the [DPRK] and the Russian Federation, Comrade Kim Jong Un decided on our armed forces’ participation in the war, informed the Russian side of it and, in accordance with agreement, issued an order of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea to combat sub-units of the armed forces of the Republic to annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces.

Reports that North Koreans were fighting for Russia in Kursk emerged in the second half of 2024. According to sources speaking with Reuters, the presence of North Koreans on the battlefield is what led President Joe Biden to approve the use of American munitions in long-range strikes inside of Russia last November.