Russian delegation to attend opening of North Korea museum honoring soldiers killed in Ukraine war

A Russian delegation led by the parliament's speaker landed in North Korean capital Pyongyang to attend a ceremony marking the opening of a memorial museum honoring soldiers killed while fighting for Russia in the Ukraine war, state news agency KCNA reported on Sunday.

The delegation led by Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, arrived on Saturday and was greeted by Jo Yong-won, chairman of the North's Supreme People's Assembly.

North Korea is set to open the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations in Pyongyang.

Jo and Volodin held talks to discuss ways to expand parliamentary exchange and bilateral cooperation, and reaffirmed their will to implement agreements signed between their leaders.

Over the past decade, Russia and North Korea have developed a comprehensive strategic partnership formalized by a treaty in 2024.

The two countries pledged mutual military support if either comes under attack by a third party.

In August 2025, North Korea sent around 1,000 military engineers to Russia’s Kursk region to assist Russian forces in clearing land mines planted during fighting with Ukrainian troops.

The deployment followed an earlier dispatch of an estimated 15,000 combat troops to support Russia’s war effort, according to South Korea's spy agency, which claims that North Korea lost 2,000 troops in the war.