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11-05-2026
PYONGYANG/ MOSCOW: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his country’s commitment to its mutual defence treaty with Russia, in a message to President Vladimir Putin congratulating Russia on the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Kim reiterated North Korea’s position to “give top priority” to its partnership with Russia and its commitment to “the implementation of the obligations of the inter-state treaty,” according to KCNA.
Russia and North Korea in 2024 signed a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” during a visit to Pyongyang by Putin. The pact includes a mutual defence provision.
North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk during the ongoing war in Ukraine. South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials said those troops suffered heavy casualties, with more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers killed in the fighting.
Russia holds its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years due to the threat of attack from Ukraine yesterday, where victory for Moscow’s forces has proven elusive more than four years in to the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.
Russia and Ukraine confirmed on Friday that they had agreed to a three-day ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump, which will run from May 9 to May 11.
Meanwhile, Russia holds its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years on Saturday due to the threat of attack from Ukraine, where victory for Moscow’s forces has proven elusive more than four years into the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.
The May 9 parade on Red Square marks Russia’s most revered national holiday, a time to celebrate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and to pay homage to the 27 million Soviet citizens, including many from Ukraine, who perished.
Once used to show off Russia’s vast military including its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, this year’s parade will have no tanks or other military equipment rolling over the cobbles of Red Square.
Soldiers will still March and cheer in the shadow of Vladimir Lenin’s Mausoleum, fighter planes will fly above the towers of the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin will make a speech before laying flowers at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“In general, everything is as usual, except for the demonstration of military equipment,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
After Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating unilateral ceasefires they had each declared over recent days, US President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire from May 9 to May 11 that was supported by both the Kremlin and Kyiv. The two sides also agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners.
“I’d like to see a big extension,” Trump told reporters on Friday evening. “It could be.”
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, had warned that any attempt by Kyiv to disrupt Saturday’s event would lead to a massive missile strike on the Ukrainian capital. Moscow told foreign diplomats that they should evacuate Kyiv staff in the event of such an attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a tongue-in-cheek decree “allowing” Russia’s May 9 military parade to proceed and saying Ukrainian weapons would not target Red Square.
Moscow is defended by rings of air defences and electronic barriers designed to confuse and shoot down drones and missiles approaching the capital which along with the surrounding region has a population of 22 million. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
