Russia’s Putin Thanks Kim for North Korean Troops Fighting in Kursk

For months, Moscow and Pyongyang had been vague about the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia’s war against Ukraine, even after Kyiv publicly paraded two North Korean soldiers its forces had captured.

Then, in back-to-back statements, the leaders of the two countries confirmed that North Korean troops have been fighting shoulder to shoulder with Russia’s, saying they had helped liberate the Kursk border region from Ukrainian forces.

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, said he had sent troops to Russia to boost its military alliance, praising their “heroism and bravery,” the country’s state media said Monday. Mr. Kim ordered a monument be built for soldiers slain in Russia, as if to remind President Vladimir V. Putin of the debt he owed.

Mr. Putin said Monday that the Russian people would never forget the feats of North Korea’s special forces. “We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, on par with their Russian brothers in arms,” he said in a statement published on the Kremlin website.

The statements followed Russia’s first official acknowledgment of North Korea’s military assistance on Saturday, even though the alliance has long been known. Officials from South Korea, Ukraine and the United States have said as many as 4,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded while fighting for Russia since last year.

North Korea has sent 14,000 troops, mostly members of its special operations units, to Russia, including 3,000 dispatched earlier this year to replace those killed or wounded, according to South Korean officials. North Korea has also provided millions of artillery shells, as well as many ballistic missiles, which Russia has used to pound Ukrainian cities.