North Korean Troops March in Moscow Victory Day Parade for First Time in History

For the first time in history, North Korean troops marched as a distinct column in Moscow's Victory Day parade on Red Square on May 9, 2026, marking the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. The DPRK special forces who fought in Russia's Kursk Oblast against Ukrainian forces were publicly honored at the parade, receiving a standing ovation. The parade was notably scaled back compared to previous years — no tanks or heavy armored equipment — amid a US-brokered ceasefire with Ukraine. The DPRK column's inclusion was a deliberate Russian signal of the depth of the new Russia-DPRK alliance. South Korea's government summoned the Russian ambassador in Seoul to protest. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called the participation 'alarming and unprecedented.' The parade came less than two weeks after Kim Jong-un inaugurated a memorial museum in Pyongyang for DPRK soldiers killed in combat in Russia.