North Korea confirmed for the first time on Monday that it has sent troops to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine under the order of leader Kim Jong-un and made an important contribution to the liberation of Russian territory occupied by Ukraine.

After Russia claimed to have retaken the Kursk region from Ukraine, North Korea acknowledged for the first time that it had sent soldiers to fight in Moscow’s war.

An estimated 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded while fighting alongside Russia against Ukrainian forces, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers