Seoul: Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea on Monday for fighting alongside his troops against Ukrainian forces and promised not to forget their sacrifices, hours after North Korea confirmed its deployment for the first time.
The back-to-back Russian and North Korean statements -- which illustrate their expanding military partnerships -- came two days after Russia said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last year.
Putin praised North Korean soldiers who he said “shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, defended our Motherland as their own.”