North Korean troops in Ukraine gain battlefield experience, cementing alliance with Russia

FILE - Soldiers wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus rally in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Oct. 12, 2020. FILE - In this image from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Oct. 17, 2024, a Russian soldier fires a gun toward a Ukrainian position in the Russian-Ukrainian border area in the Kursk region, Russia.

For weeks, Ukrainian troops braced for an unfamiliar enemy: North Korean soldiers sent to bolster Moscow's forces after Ukraine launched a lightning-fast incursion and seized territory in Russia's Kursk region over the summer.