For the first time, North Korea has confirmed having sent troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine under the defense treaty between the two countries. 

The North’s state Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said Monday that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, made the decision to deploy troops under the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty he signed with Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.

The KCNA cited a statement from the Central Military Commission of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, which said the previous day that Kim invoked Article 4 of the partnership treaty, under which the two nations agreed to provide military aid to each other in the event of war.

It is the first confirmation from the North that the country has deployed troops to Russia, months after sending thousands of its soldiers to fight in the region.

The KCNA also cited the commission in declaring victory for what it called an operation to liberate the Kursk area and repel the invasion of the Russian Federation by the Ukrainian authorities.

The report added that subunits of the North’s national armed forces participated in the operation in accordance with the orders from the country’s head of state.