Russian museum’s tribute to North Korean soldiers in Ukraine

A short film about “international solidarity” between the two countries “against Western imperialism” ran on a loop, as hundreds of schoolchildren and members of the public made their way past.

In promotional material, the museum says it runs “patriotic programs and quests” for school groups, and its “Children’s Center” is described as “a unified space for civic-patriotic education of students in educational institutions.” On Wednesday some of them chanted slogans as they took part in a patriotic training exercise.

“We shouldn’t be surprised that there is now an overt recognition of the role that North Korean troops are playing in Russia’s assault on Europe since the semiserious denials of this fact ceased some time ago,” said Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.

“What is more interesting is the way this is being presented to the Russian public, because a core element of the Russian great power status is that Russia does not need assistance from other countries. It is fully independent and sovereign in the sense that it can manage its own affairs,” he said in a telephone interview Friday.

“So this does indicate a gradual shift, possibly an attempt to bring about a gradual shift in Russia’s understanding of its place in the world, where previously, presentation of a Asiatic ally as essential to Russia for achieving its aims would have been unthinkable,” Giles added.

South Korea’s intelligence agency estimated last month that about 2,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed in the war, which entered its fourth year in February.

Attempts to bring an end to the fighting stalled this week when President Donald Trump confirmed that a second summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war was off.

The United States subsequently imposed substantial sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, the first economic punishments slapped on Moscow by Trump during his second term.

The move was greeted with anger in Russia, although Putin told journalists Thursday they “will not have a significant impact on the health of our economy.”

The role of Western nations in the war, including the U.S., was on display in another gallery at the Museum of Victory. Under banners that read “Weapons of the West” were American Humvees, a burned-out Bradley Fighting Vehicle and an M1 Abrams battle tank, alongside other military hardware and British helmets.

These are the trophies of the “special military operation” and evidence of NATO technology’s defeat, according to signs in Russian near the display.