Russia, North Korea building bridge to create ‘road of friendship'
Russia and North Korea have described the building of a bridge connecting the two countries as a "significant occasion," strengthening their "friendly relations," Korean state media KCNA reported on May 1.
The 4.7-kilometer (3 miles) road bridge will span the Tumen River and cross the border between Russia and North Korea. The bridge is expected to be completed in 18 months time, with a border checkpoint nearby to facilitate crossings.
"The construction of the motor bridge serves as a significant occasion in adding fresh dynamics to the development of the friendly relations between the two countries," KCNA said.
North Korea has been one of Russia's staunchest supporters since the full-scale war in Ukraine began. Their economic and military cooperation has only deepened and the two countries ratified a mutual defense treaty in November.
The ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of the bridge, which took place on April 30 in Khasan and Rason, Russian and North Korean borderland cities, was attended by high-ranking officials from Pyongyang and Moscow.
During the ceremony, Russian Vice Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev highlighted the bridge as another "road of friendship" between the two nations, Russian state media TASS reported on April 30.
"Today, our relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are growing stronger. This bridge will be another road of friendship," Trutnev said.
Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also attended the groundbreaking ceremony, calling the project a key step in strengthening relations between the two countries.
Currently, the only link between Russia and North Korea is a railway bridge, and pyair services.
North Korean troops have been fighting alongside Moscow's forces against Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk Oblast since December 2024, after Kyiv launched an incursion into the region in August of the same year.
Moscow and Pyongyang officially acknowledged the deployment previously this week, as Ukrainian troops were reportedly forced out of most of the oblast, though Kyiv has said some fighting is still ongoing.
Pyongyang has deployed some 14,000 troops to Russia, mostly consisting of its special operations unit — the figure includes 3,000 that North Korea sent this year to replenish the casualties taken on the battlefield, the New York Times reported on April 27, citing South Korean officials.
Read also: Kremlin says Russia ready for mass mobilization like in WWII 'at any moment'
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
21 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Russia launches ‘largest ever' drone strike against Ukraine
KYIV — Russia unleashed its largest overnight drone attack in the war on Monday, launching cruise and ballistic missiles as well in a barrage that lasted through the night and struck locations across Ukraine, even as Kyiv and Moscow began a days-long prisoner exchange involving hundreds of soldiers. Russian forces launched 479 self-detonating drones, of which 460 were shot down or deflected through electronic interference, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on social media. Ukraine's western Rivne region went through 'a very difficult night' and 'suffered a powerful enemy airstrike,' Oleksandr Koval, head of the regional military administration, wrote on Telegram. One person was injured, he said. He did not provide further details. Monday's attack appeared to have caused less damage than one on Friday, which Kremlin officials said was in response to an audacious Ukrainian assault on air bases inside Russia earlier in the week. In Friday's bombardment, Russian drones and missiles hammered Kyiv and cities in western Ukraine, causing extensive damage and injuring dozens. Monday's strike took place as Moscow's forces claimed to be advancing toward Ukraine's southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region — an area of the country that has been heavily bombarded but so far has avoided ground fighting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the offensive was in part an attempt to create a 'buffer zone.' However, Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian military's Center for Countering Disinformation, posted on Telegram that 'all information from the Russians, including Peskov's statements, about their offensive on the Dnipropetrovsk region is NOT true.' The Russian advance could represent a further intensification of Moscow's military pressure across the front line, which has now spread to Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region. In his regular evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that in 'some areas' along the front line, 'the situation is very difficult.' Fighting is underway in the Donetsk, Sumy and Kharkiv regions, he added. On Monday, Zelensky announced on Telegram the beginning of a prisoner exchange that would 'continue in several stages in the coming days.' Zelensky said he could not divulge all details but that the first group included those who were seriously wounded and under the age of 25. 'The process is quite complicated, there are many sensitive details, negotiations continue virtually every day,' Zelensky wrote.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Musk's father says Trump dispute triggered by intense stress, has to end
By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -The dispute between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was triggered by months of intense stress on both sides, and the public battle between the U.S. president and the billionaire donor needs to stop, Musk's father told Reuters on Monday. Trump and Musk began exchanging insults last week on social media, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO describing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination". Asked whether he thought his son had made a mistake by engaging in a public clash with the president, Errol Musk said people were sometimes unable to think as clearly as they should "in the heat of the moment." "They've had five months of intense stress," Musk told Reuters at a conference in Moscow organised by conservative Russian tycoons. "With all the opposition cleared and two people left in the arena, all they have ever done is get rid of everything and now they are trying to get rid of each other - well that has to stop." Asked how it would end, he said: "Oh, it will end on a good note - very soon." Neither the White House nor Musk could be reached for comment outside normal U.S. business hours. Trump said on Saturday his relationship with Musk was over and that there would be "serious consequences" if the world's richest man decided to fund U.S. Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the tax and spending bill. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Musk's father told reporters he was standing by his son. "Elon is sticking to his principles but you cannot always stick to your principles in the real world," Musk's father said. "Sometimes you have to give and take." Speaking beside sanctioned Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, Musk's father praised President Vladimir Putin as a "very stable and pleasant man." He accused "fake media" in the West of projecting "complete nonsense" about Russia and for casting it as an enemy.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russia launches biggest drone barrage of the Ukraine war, Kyiv says
Nearly 500 drones and 20 missiles of various types were launched by Russia at Ukraine overnight, marking the biggest barrage of the war, Kyiv said. On Monday, Ukraine's air force said its air defenses were able to destroy 277 of the 479 drones launched in the darkness and 19 missiles mid-flight. Kyiv claims only 10 drones of missiles hit their target and just one person was injured. The bombardment targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine, they said. Russia's aerial attacks usually start late in the evening and end in the morning, as drones are harder to spot in the dark. Four Killed In Russian Attacks On Ukraine As Moscow Continues To Retaliate For Kyiv's Drone Strike Russia has targeted civilian areas of Ukraine with Shahed drones during the war. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. Russia says it targets only military targets. Read On The Fox News App Despite the attack, the Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was still ready to honor agreements with Ukraine on a new prisoner of war exchange and on the repatriation of dead soldiers, despite what it said was Kyiv's failure to so far honor its side of the bargain. Russia Launches Largest Aerial Attack Of Ukraine War, Killing At Least 12 "We have seen and heard a hundred different excuses, justifications and so on, but it is difficult to view them as credible," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters. "The Russian side remains ready to implement the agreements reached in Istanbul." The exchanges were agreed to during a second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on June 2 and are meant to see a new prisoner of war swap of at least 1,200 people – focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded – as well as the repatriation of thousands of bodies of those killed in the war. The return of prisoners of war and the return of the bodies of the dead is one of the few things the two sides have been able to agree on, even as their broader negotiations have failed to get close to ending the war, now in its fourth year. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Original article source: Russia launches biggest drone barrage of the Ukraine war, Kyiv says
