Putin lauds North Korean troops’ ‘feat’ in helping regain territory in Kursk

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul on April 28, 2025. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 28 April 2025
Follow

Putin lauds North Korean troops’ ‘feat’ in helping regain territory in Kursk

  • Kremlin: ‘The Korean friends acted, guided by the sentiments of solidarity, justice and real camaraderie’
  • North Korea on Monday confirmed for the first time it had deployed troops to Russia

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Monday thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the “feat” of Pyongyang’s troops in helping wrest back the area held by Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk region.

“The Korean friends acted, guided by the sentiments of solidarity, justice and real camaraderie,” the Kremlin cited Putin as saying.

“We appreciate it a lot and are deeply grateful to comrade Kim Jong Un personally... and the North Korean people.”

Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov on Saturday hailed the “heroism” of the North Korean soldiers, who he said “provided significant assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces.”

North Korea on Monday confirmed for the first time it had deployed troops to Russia, with state news agency KCNA reporting that Pyongyang’s soldiers helped Moscow reclaim territory in Kursk.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies had long reported that Pyongyang sent more than 10,000 soldiers to help in Kursk last year.


Greta Thunberg released from custody after arrest at UK pro-Palestinian protest

Updated 7 sec ago
Follow

Greta Thunberg released from custody after arrest at UK pro-Palestinian protest

LONDON: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was released from custody after being arrested ​on Tuesday in London at a pro-Palestinian protest, police said.
UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign that said “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.” The British government has proscribed Palestine Action as ‌a terrorist ‌group.
City of London Police said ‌Thunberg ⁠had ​been ‌bailed until March.
Police said earlier two other people had been arrested for throwing red paint at a building. A spokesperson said 22-year-old woman later attended the scene and was arrested for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organization.
Prisoners for ⁠Palestine, which supports some detained activists who have gone on ‌hunger strike, said the building ‍had been targeted because it ‍was used by an insurance firm which they ‍said provided services to the British arm of Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.
The insurance company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thunberg, 22, became ​prominent after staging weekly climate protests in front of the Swedish parliament in ⁠2018.
Last year, she was cleared of a public order offense in Britain as a judge ruled police had no power to arrest her and others at a protest in London the year before.
She was detained along with 478 people and expelled by Israel in October after joining an activist convoy of vessels, the Global Sumud Flotilla, that attempted to reach Gaza with aid supplies. ‌Israel has consistently denied genocide allegations.