North Korean military engineers have joined Russian forces to carry out demining operations in Kursk, according to the region’s governor, following a joint effort to repel a Ukrainian incursion that ended earlier this year.

“Comrades-in-arms from North Korea are joining” Russian emergency ministry and guard units in removing mines from border areas, the first step toward rebuilding infrastructure damaged in the fighting, Kursk’s acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said in a televised election debate on Friday.