Putin thanks North Korea for troop deployment in war against Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea on Monday for its first confirmed deployment of troops in the war against Ukraine.

Putin praised the North Korean troops in a statement, who he said “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, referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, The Associated Press reported. "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."

On Saturday, Russia said its troops reclaimed the Kursk region, which had been taken by Ukrainian forces last year. Ukrainian officials have denied Russia's claim, saying that the operation is continuing in certain areas of Kursk.

North Korea’s Central Military Commission announced earlier Monday that Kim Jong Un 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.” North Korean troops eventually made “an important contribution” to Russia in the retrieval of the border territory, according to the commission.

The commission's official confirmation of troop deployment to Russia is its first, despite intelligence officials from the U.S., South Korea, and Ukraine saying that 10,000-12,000 North Korean troops had been dispatched to Russia last fall. The deployment is North Korea's first participation in a major armed conflict since the Korean War.

Putin and Kim said the North Korean troop deployment occurred under a mutual defense treaty that they signed in June, which requires them to use all available means in providing immediate military assistance if either is under attack.