Russia has, for the first time since the beginning of its conflict with Ukraine, officially confirmed that North Korean troops participated in military operations alongside Russian forces, according to reports from state media outlets in both Russia and South Korea.

During a video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Russia's Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, acknowledged the involvement of North Korean servicemen in what he described as the "liberation" of the Kursk border region, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

"I would like to highlight the participation of servicemen from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the liberation of the Kursk Region's border areas. In accordance with the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between our countries, they provided significant assistance in defeating the invading Ukrainian armed forces," Gerasimov said, according to a transcript of the videoconference published on the Kremlin's official website.

President Putin claimed that Russia has regained full control of the Kursk region, a border area where Ukraine had launched a surprise offensive last year.

Putin stated that the defeat of Ukrainian forces in Kursk would enable further advances by Russian troops on other fronts and "brings closer the defeat of the neo-Nazi regime," referring to Ukraine's government.

The Russian president also congratulated and expressed gratitude to the military units involved in the operation, according to state news agency TASS.

Russia’s confirmation of North Korean involvement comes nearly a year after the United States, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine alleged that North Korean troops had been spotted on the front lines.

However, Ukraine’s General Staff countered Russia’s claims, stating in a Telegram post that hostilities in the Kursk region are ongoing.

"The defensive operation of the Ukrainian Defence Forces in the designated areas of Kursk region continues. The operational situation is difficult, but our units are holding their positions and fulfilling their tasks," the post said, according to CNN.

CNN also reported that Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into the Kursk region in August, capturing territory in what marked the first ground invasion of Russian soil by a foreign power since World War II.

Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump briefly met during the funeral of the late Pope Francis at the Vatican.

A White House spokesperson described the meeting as "productive," while Zelenskyy later posted on X (formerly Twitter), calling the meeting potentially "historic" if it leads to concrete results.

Later that day, Trump raised the prospect of imposing new sanctions on Russia in response to its deadly missile attacks on Kyiv earlier in the week.

"There was no reason for Putin to be firing missiles into civilian areas, cities, and towns over the past few days," Trump wrote on Truth Social.