Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 25, 2025, 10:03 AM EDTBy Keir Simmons and Natasha LebedevaMOSCOW — Since the Kremlin launched its war in Ukraine just over three and a half years ago, Russian soldiers have been canonized on TV screens and billboards across Moscow.But this week, as Muscovites shrugged off President Donald Trump’s new sanctions while already grappling with mounting economic concerns, there was also space carved out for a burgeoning ally in the state-run Museum of Victory.The Kremlin long worked to keep secret the role North Korea’s forces played in the war on Ukraine. Now, it’s celebrating it in a public relations U-turn, which saw the museum open a new exhibition earlier this month celebrating the alliance that helped to push back the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since World War II, when Ukrainian forces smashed across the border in August of last year.Ukraine and South Korea estimate Pyongyang has ultimately deployed more than 10,000 troops to the war in return for economic and military technology assistance.