RUSSIA’S President Vladimir Putin has lauded North Korea and Kim Jong Un for supporting his country in the Ukraine war. 

Putin expressed his gratitude in a statement released on Monday, April 28, following an announcement by North Korea admitting for the first time that it deployed troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.

“We will always honour the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, on an equal basis with their Russian brothers in arms,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.

Over the weekend, Russia officially acknowledged North Korea’s troop deployment for the first time, claiming Ukrainian forces had been driven out of the last Russian village they held. 

North Korea announced on Monday, April 28, through its state news agency KCNA that its military helped Russian forces “completely liberate” the Kursk border region, following an order from leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korean and Western intelligence have long reported that Pyongyang deployed thousands of troops to Kursk last year, though North Korea had never officially confirmed it until now.

The announcement came days after Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov hailed the ‘heroism’ of North Korean troops, marking the first time Moscow has publicly recognised their participation.

KCNA stated that the decision to deploy troops was in line with the mutual defence treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow.

“They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland,” Kim said, according to KCNA.

North Korea “regards it as an honour to have an alliance with such a powerful state as the Russian Federation,” KCNA said.

It added that North Korea would support the Russian army again.

KCNA did not say what would happen to the North Korean troops after their mission in Kursk ends.

According to North Korea’s ruling party, the successful liberation of Kursk demonstrated the “highest strategic level of the strong militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.

Western officials earlier told the BBC that at least 1,000 of the 11,000 North Korean troops deployed were killed within three months.

Reacting to this development, the United States Department demanded that North Korea’s deployment to Russia and any support by Russia in return must end, adding that Russia had violated United Nations Security Council resolutions by training North Korean soldiers.

A State Department spokesperson told Reuters that countries like North Korea, whose support had “prolonged the Russia-Ukraine war, bear responsibility.”

The US said North Korea must now bear responsibility for perpetuating the war.

The ICIR reported that Putin had proposed placing Ukraine under a temporary administration to facilitate new elections and the signing of key agreements aimed at ending the war between the two nations.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Trump understood Kyiv’s position of not recognising the occupied territory as part of Russia while also reaffirming Kyiv’s willingness to halt strikes on Russian infrastructure and accept an unconditional frontline ceasefire, as previously proposed by the US.

South Korea called Monday’s confirmation of the troop deployment an “admission of criminal activity,” condemning North Korea for the “inhumane and immoral” decision to send its young people into battle in a bid to bolster its regime.

The decision to deploy troops was in accordance with a mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, KCNA said.

Reports of North Korean soldiers being sent to fight for Russia first surfaced in October, coinciding with the growing ties between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin. 

This included a pact in which both leaders agreed to assist each other in the event of “aggression.”

The ICIR reported that last Thursday night,  Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv, killing at least eight people, injuring over 70, and damaging multiple buildings in what is described as the largest assault on the Ukrainian capital this year.

Government officials disclosed this on Thursday, noting that the attack ignited fires, injured six children, and left some people trapped under the rubble.