Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded North Korean “comrades in arms” on Wednesday for helping liberate and demine the Kursk region, delivering a speech summing up the country’s war efforts against Ukraine this year.

Speaking in front of Russia’s top military brass in Moscow, Putin said DPRK soldiers “bravely and valiantly fought the enemy shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters” and took part in the “large-scale and extremely difficult” demining effort in Kursk.