Pyongyang: North Korea announced that it has sent soldiers to clear mines in the Kursk region of Russia. the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a welcoming ceremony for a military engineering unit that returned home after completing its mission in Russia.

In a speech carried by KCNA, Kim praised the officers and soldiers of the 528th Engineering Regiment of the Korean People’s Army for their conduct and courage in carrying out orders issued by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea during a 120-day overseas mission. KCNA indicated that the unit was deployed in early August and carried out combat and engineering missions in the Kursk region of Russia during the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, The Russian Defense Ministry announced last month that North Korean troops, who helped Russia repel a major Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk region of western Russia, are now playing a key role in clearing the area of landmines. Kim Jong Un said nine soldiers were killed during the mission, calling their deaths a “heartbreaking loss,” and announced that the regiment would be awarded the Order of Freedom and Independence.

A reception was held yesterday, Friday, in Pyongyang, attended by senior military officials, leaders of the ruling party, the soldiers’ families, and a large crowd, according to the report.