Now it's official: They entered the war

The agency states that North Korean forces made a significant contribution to the liberation of the Kursk region from Ukrainian troops.

It is noted that the military personnel of North Korea have been sent to participate in the fighting in the Kursk region based on the agreement on mutual defense that Moscow and Pyongyang signed in June last year, Ukrinform reported.

The Central Military Commission claims that the North Korean army participated in the fighting only inside Russia, which, it says, "is fully in accordance with the provisions of Charter 51 of the United Nations and other international agreements."

It is said that a monument will soon be erected in Pyongyang in honor of the exploits of North Korean soldiers on the territory of Russia.

On April 26, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, Valery Gerasimov, informed Russian President Vladimir Putin about the liberation of the Kursk region from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that the claims of the Russian High Command about the end of hostilities in the Kursk region are not true.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has personally ordered his country's military to fight alongside Russian forces "to destroy Ukraine's neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk region," the country's state media reported Monday.

In a report to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov praised the contribution of North Korean soldiers in helping liberate the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces. Pyongyang officially confirmed the deployment on Monday.

"Operations to liberate the Kursk region to repel the adventurous invasion of the Russian Federation by the Ukrainian authorities have been successfully completed," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, citing an official statement from the country's Central Military Commission.

The North Korean state news agency KCNA reported that, in addition to personnel, the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent Russia short-range ballistic missiles, self-propelled howitzers, multi-barrel rocket launchers, thousands of containers with ammunition, and that North Korea's military support to Russia is expected to grow in line with the development of the situation.

Russian forces have used North Korean missiles in attacks on Ukrainian targets, and as previously reported by CNN, Pyongyang is testing drones of a new generation, in the development of which Russian components were used.

In October last year, the Russian State Duma ratified the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with North Korea, which was signed by the presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. On that occasion, the North Korean leader said that this agreement gave full support to the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine.

Ukraine began its incursion into the Kursk region last August, deploying some of its best units, equipped with Western-supplied weapons, and initially gained ground and captured a number of settlements before Russian forces halted their advance.

Kyiv and its Western backers have long claimed that North Korean troops were involved in the conflict. Before Saturday, Pyongyang and Moscow had neither confirmed nor denied the rumours, while the Russian president previously said it was up to the two nations to determine how they would meet their obligations under the partnership pact.