Europe | Blood brothers

North Korea is sending thousands of soldiers to help Vladimir Putin

It shows how far Russia has fallen as a strategic power

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, review an honor guard in the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea
Next stop DonetskPhotograph: AP
|KYIV

UKRAINE’S PRESIDENT, Volodymyr Zelensky, declared last week that North Korea is sending troops to Russia, in effect joining the invasion as a co-combatant. The appearance of one of the world’s most erratic and heavily-armed nations in the fight might test the best-resourced and well-rested defences. After 32 months of grinding war against a much larger enemy, Ukraine is neither.

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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Russia’s latest allies at the front”

From the October 26th 2024 edition

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