North Korea Inaugurates Memorial to Soldiers Killed Fighting for Russia in Ukraine

North Korea Inaugurates Memorial to Soldiers Killed Fighting for Russia in Ukraine

Pyongyang opened a commemorative complex on April 26 dedicated to military personnel who fought alongside Russian forces in the war against Ukraine, with top officials from both nations in attendance.

The ceremonial unveiling of the memorial and the so-called "Museum of Combat Heroism of Foreign Military Operation Heroes" — as North Korea refers to its soldiers deployed to Russia — took place in Pyongyang. The event, billed as celebrating the "final liberation of a captured section of Russia's Kursk region by Ukrainian forces," drew North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian delegation members including Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia's State Duma, and Andrei Belousov, Russia's defense minister. The monument bears the names of both Russian and North Korean service members who died in the fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin formally thanked Kim Jong Un "for erecting the memorial in the shortest possible timeframe," describing it as "a symbol of friendship and unity between our two nations."

According to assessments by South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) and Western intelligence agencies as of April 2026, North Korean military fatalities in Russia's war against Ukraine total at least 2,000 personnel. Total casualties among North Korean forces, including killed and wounded, are estimated at 6,000.

As of early 2026, no fewer than 11,000 North Korean military personnel were stationed in Russia's frontline Kursk region—comprising approximately 10,000 combat troops and roughly 1,000 engineering unit personnel.