Kim Jong Un publicly honors North Korean soldiers killed in Russia-Ukraine war

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has publicly honored his country’s soldiers killed while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, in a rare acknowledgment by Pyongyang of its battlefield losses, the Guardian reported on July 1.

South Korea estimates that North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to support Russia, suffering approximately 4,700 casualties, including 600 deaths. More deployments are expected as early as July or August, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said.

Photographs of Kim resting his hands on flag-draped coffins were displayed during a gala concert in Pyongyang on June 30 to commemorate the first anniversary of a military treaty signed between North Korea and Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement in Pyongyang in June 2024. Under the treaty, the two countries pledged to provide aid to one another if either is attacked.

The images of the concert showed at least six coffins and emotional scenes of Kim alongside top officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong and Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, all dressed in winter clothing, suggesting the repatriation may have taken place months ago.

The event at East Pyongyang Grand Theatre included performances by North Korean and visiting Russian artists and displayed images celebrating the alliance, including scenes of soldiers from both countries waving flags and purported pages from a blood-stained notebook said to belong to a North Korean soldier killed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

The Guardian reported that the ceremony was the first time North Korean state media had shown footage and photos of fallen troops in a way accessible to the North Korean public.

Footage broadcast on state-run KRT showed Kim appearing emotional at times while seated next to Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae. Audience members were seen wiping away tears.

Kim met with Lyubimova in Pyongyang on June 29 to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation in culture and the arts.

North Korea initially denied sending combat troops to Ukraine, but Kim's tribute follows official confirmations of Pyongyang's direct military involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war. In April, both Kim and Putin described North Korean troops deployed to Ukraine as "heroes."

Kim also announced plans to build a monument in Pyongyang to honor the fallen and lay flowers at their tombstones.

Pyongyang has reportedly begun recruiting additional soldiers for future deployments. The move would add to what Seoul describes as significant military support from North Korea, including more than 10 million artillery shells and multiple ballistic missile transfers in exchange for economic and technical assistance from Moscow.

North Korea may also send up to 25,000 laborers to Russia to support drone production, including Shahed-type loitering munitions at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea on June 17 under a special directive from Putin and announced a deal for Pyongyang to send 1,000 sappers and 5,000 military engineers to Russia's Kursk Oblast.

Thousands of North Korean troops reportedly participated in front-line operations there, helping Russia repel a Ukrainian cross-border offensive that began in August 2024. Ukrainian forces briefly held 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) in Kursk Oblast before losing most of the territory during a Russian counteroffensive in March 2025, reportedly supported by North Korean units.

U.K. defense intelligence places North Korean casualties from that operation at more than 6,000.

Russia turns sound into weapon

When I was at school and learned about World War II, my grandmother told me what she remembered of her wartime childhood on the English coast. Growing up near a Royal Navy base, she survived countless nighttime air raids. Most of all, she remembered exactly how the Blitz sounded — the

The Kyiv IndependentElsa Court