The BRICS TimesRussia’s State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin personally traveled to North Korea to express his gratitude to Kim Jong Un for deploying troops who fought alongside Russian soldiers in the Kursk region as the two nations deepen their military partnership well beyond the battlefield.
Russia’s Top Lawmaker Praises North Korea in Pyongyang Visit
Russia’s State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin flew to Pyongyang to personally thank North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He credited North Korean troops with helping push Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s Kursk region. The visit marked a significant moment a rare, public embrace of the Russia–North Korea military alliance.
Pyongyang had already sent thousands of soldiers to Russia. North Korea also supplied missiles and ammunition to support Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Those troops landed in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region deployed to repel a months-long Ukrainian counter-offensive there.
“Fought Shoulder to Shoulder” Volodin’s Words in Pyongyang
Volodin did not hold back his praise while standing on North Korean soil.
“[Let me express these] words of gratitude to you, esteemed Comrade Kim Jong Un, and to the Korean people for their fraternal support in the liberation of Kursk,” he said during the visit.
He went even further, adding “Korean soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers and officers, liberating Russian soil from the Ukrainian Nazis.”
A short video circulating on social media showed Volodin and Kim Jong Un sharing a hug with Volodin speaking at the opening of a meeting. North Korea had not issued any official statement on the encounter at the time of writing.
Russia and North Korea Cement Long-Term Military Ties
The diplomatic visit was not just ceremonial it carried real strategic weight. Russia’s Defense Minister Andrey Belousov also arrived in Pyongyang separately. He sat down with Kim Jong Un and North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol for formal military talks.
Belousov made the nature of those talks very clear. “We agreed with the DPRK Defense Ministry to place our military cooperation on a stable, long-term footing,” he stated. He also added “We are ready to sign a plan this year for Russian–Korean military cooperation for the period of 2027–2031.”
Belousov went further he handed out Russian military awards to North Korean servicemen who participated in the Kursk campaign. The Russian Defense Ministry officially confirmed this.
The visit came more than a year after both nations signed a sweeping military treaty in 2024. That agreement bound both countries to provide military assistance “without delay” if either faced an attack.
The Human Cost; Casualties and Captured Soldiers
The deployment of North Korean troops came at a steep price. South Korea estimates roughly 2,000 North Korean soldiers lost their lives in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
North Korean soldiers were reportedly told to take their own lives rather than allow themselves to be captured in combat. Despite that two North Korean soldiers were taken alive. Both are currently in Ukrainian custody. The two soldiers have since expressed a wish to relocate to South Korea.
What North Korea Gets in Return
Analysts who follow the alliance closely say the arrangement is far from one-sided. In exchange for troops and weapons, North Korea receives financial payments, military technology, food supplies, and energy resources from Russia. Those benefits help Pyongyang sidestep the heavy international sanctions that were imposed over its banned nuclear weapons programmes.
The Russian delegation also attended the inauguration of a brand-new memorial complex in Pyongyang built to honor North Korean nationals who died while backing Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
