Ammon News - North Korea confirmed for the first time on Monday that it had sent troops to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine under orders from leader Kim Jong Un and that it had helped regain control of Russian territory occupied by Ukraine.

North Korea's unprecedented deployment of thousands of troops, as well as massive amounts of artillery ammunition and missiles, gave Russia a crucial battlefield advantage in the western Kursk region and has brought the two economically and politically isolated countries closer.

The victorious end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the "highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship" between North Korea and Russia, state news agency KCNA cited the North's ruling party as saying.

Russia acknowledged the North Korean deployment for the first time over the weekend and said Ukrainian forces had been expelled from the last Russian village they were holding. Kyiv has denied the claim and said its troops were still operating in some parts of Russian territory.

On Monday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin expressed his personal gratitude to North Korea and Kim.

"We will always honour the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, on an equal basis with their Russian brothers in arms," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.

The Central Military Commission of North Korea's Workers' Party said Kim made the decision to deploy troops under the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty he signed with Putin last year. Reuters