For months, Moscow and Pyongyang had been vague about the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia’s war against Ukraine, even after Kyiv publicly paraded two North Korean soldiers its forces had captured.

数月来，莫斯科和平壤对朝鲜军队参与俄乌战争一事始终含糊其辞，甚至在基辅公开展示俘获的两名朝鲜士兵后也是如此。

Then, in back-to-back statements, the leaders of the two countries confirmed that North Korean troops have been fighting shoulder to shoulder with Russia’s, saying they had helped liberate the Kursk border region from Ukrainian forces.

而就在近日，俄朝领导人先后发表声明，证实朝鲜军队一直在与俄罗斯军队并肩作战，称其协助俄方从乌克兰军队手中解放了库尔斯克边境地区。

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, said he had sent troops to Russia to boost its military alliance, praising their “heroism and bravery,” the country’s state media said Monday. Mr. Kim ordered a monument be built for soldiers slain in Russia, as if to remind President Vladimir V. Putin of the debt he owed.

据朝鲜官方媒体周一报道，朝鲜领导人金正恩表示，他向俄罗斯派出了军队以加强两国的军事结盟，并赞扬了朝鲜军队的“英雄气概和勇敢”。金正恩下令为在俄罗斯阵亡的朝鲜士兵建一个纪念碑，仿佛是提醒俄罗斯总统普京对朝鲜欠下的人情债。

Mr. Putin said Monday that the Russian people would never forget the feats of North Korea’s special forces. “We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, on par with their Russian brothers in arms,” he said in a statement published on the Kremlin website.

普京则在周一表示，俄罗斯人民永远不会忘记朝鲜特种部队的丰功伟绩。“我们将永远缅怀那些为俄罗斯、为我们共同的自由献出生命的朝鲜英雄，他们与俄罗斯的战友们一样值得敬重，”他在克里姆林宫网站上发的声明中说。

The statements followed Russia’s first official acknowledgment of North Korea’s military assistance on Saturday, even though the alliance has long been known. Officials from South Korea, Ukraine and the United States have said as many as 4,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded while fighting for Russia since last year.

发出这份声明前，俄罗斯已在上周六首次正式承认了朝鲜的军事援助，尽管两国联合作战的情况早已为人所知。韩国、乌克兰以及美国的官员已表示，自去年以来，已有多达4000名朝鲜士兵在为俄罗斯作战时死亡或受伤。

North Korea has sent 14,000 troops, mostly members of its special operations units, to Russia, including 3,000 dispatched earlier this year to replace those killed or wounded, according to South Korean officials. North Korea has also provided millions of artillery shells, as well as many ballistic missiles, which Russia has used to pound Ukrainian cities.

据韩国官员的说法，朝鲜已向俄罗斯派遣了1.4万名士兵，其中大部分来自朝鲜特种部队，包括今年早些时候为替补阵亡或受伤的士兵派出的3000名士兵。朝鲜还提供了数百万枚炮弹和多枚弹道导弹，俄罗斯在轰炸乌克兰城市时使用了这些导弹。

The sudden but coordinated revelation indicated that both Russia and North Korea were using their newly formed military alliance as negotiating leverage, analysts said.

分析人士称，俄罗斯和朝鲜此次突然但步调一致的发声表明，两国都在把它们新近结成的军事联盟作为谈判筹码。

平壤上周五举行了游行活动纪念朝鲜人民革命军建军日。

By claiming the “complete liberation” of Kursk with the help of North Korean troops, Moscow was depriving Ukraine of a key bargaining chip in peace talks. North Korea’s continued commitment of military aid also helps strengthen Russia’s negotiating power as the U.S. president, Donald J. Trump, grows impatient for a peace deal with both Moscow and Kyiv. On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Mr. Trump might abandon his attempts to broker a settlement if he does not see progress soon.

俄罗斯宣称朝鲜军队帮助“彻底解放了”库尔斯克，是为了剥夺乌克兰在和平谈判中一个关键的筹码。随着美国总统特朗普在达成和平协议上对莫斯科和基辅越来越没有耐心，朝鲜对俄罗斯的持续军事援助承诺也有助于增强俄罗斯的谈判地位。美国国务卿马尔科·鲁比奥在周日警告，如果特朗普不能很快看到进展的话，他可能会放弃促成和解的努力。

For North Korea, cementing a military alliance with Russia “at the cost of blood in combat gunfire” and keeping Mr. Putin beholden to Mr. Kim increases its own diplomatic leverage against Washington. Mr. Trump has said he wanted to reach out to Mr. Kim for a possible deal over his nuclear weapons program.

对朝鲜而言，“用战火中的血腥代价”来巩固与俄罗斯的军事结盟，让普京欠下金正恩的人情，这增强了朝鲜与美国对抗的外交筹码。特朗普曾表示，他希望与金正恩进行接触，就后者的核武器计划达成可能的协议。

“It’s a win-win strategy for both Russia and North Korea,” said Hong Min, a North Korea expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

“这对俄罗斯和朝鲜来说是一个双赢战略，”首尔韩国统一研究院的朝鲜问题专家洪敏说。

On Saturday, Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, Russia’s top military commander, praised the North Korean troops’ “fortitude and heroism​,” as he claimed the “complete liberation” of Russia’s Kursk border region​. He also thanked them for their “considerable assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces​.”

周六，在宣布俄罗斯库尔斯克边境地区“彻底解放”时，俄罗斯最高军事指挥官瓦列里·格拉西莫夫将军称赞了朝鲜军队的“坚韧不拔和英雄主义”。他还感谢朝鲜军队“在击败乌克兰武装部队方面提供了相当大的帮助”。

The Ukrainian army had stunned Russia in August by attacking across the border and taking control of parts of Kursk. But the Russians began beating them back after the arrival of North Korean troops late last year. On Saturday, General Gerasimov claimed that Russia now controlled parts of the adjacent Ukrainian region of Sumy as well, although he didn’t specify whether the North Koreans joined in that operation.

8月，乌克兰军队越境进攻并控制了库尔斯克的部分地区，令俄罗斯震惊。但在去年底朝鲜军队抵达后，俄罗斯人开始击退乌军。格拉西莫夫周六声称，俄罗斯现在还控制了邻近的乌克兰苏梅的部分地区，不过他没有具体说明朝鲜是否参与了那次行动。

Ukraine has disputed the claim by Russia to have retaken Kursk, insisting that its troops were still holding positions there.

乌克兰对俄罗斯重新夺回库尔斯克的说法提出质疑，坚称乌军仍在当地驻守。

俄罗斯在库尔斯克的炮兵阵地，摄于去年12月。

Kyiv had hoped to use the land it had occupied in Kursk as a bargaining chip in peace talks with Russia, which has seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine since its offensive began in 2022. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine met with Mr. Trump on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican on Saturday to discuss a cease-fire.

基辅曾希望利用其在库尔斯克占领的土地作为与俄罗斯进行和平谈判的筹码。自2022年开始进攻以来，俄罗斯已经占领了乌克兰东部和南部的部分地区。周六，乌克兰总统泽连斯基在梵蒂冈教宗方济各葬礼的间隙与特朗普会面，讨论停火问题。

North Korea’s state media indicated ​that Mr. Kim first proposed to send troops to Russia under a mutual defense treaty he signed with Mr. Putin in Pyongyang last June. The decision “demonstrated the highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between the two countries, it said.

朝鲜官方媒体表示，金正恩根据去年6月在平壤与普京签署的共同防御条约首次提议向俄罗斯派兵。该媒体称，这一决定“显示了两国之间坚定的军事友谊的最高战略水平”。

“A monument to the battle feats will be soon erected in our capital city, and flowers of praying for immortality given by the motherland and the people will be placed before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers,” Mr. Kim was quoted as saying in North Korean media.

“不久后，在我们的首都将会建起一座战功纪念碑，在阵亡将士的墓碑前摆放祖国和人民献上的祈求不朽的鲜花，”朝鲜媒体援引金正恩的话说。

North Korea may send more troops to Russia in the future and expand its troops’ operations in order to deepen military ties and reap greater rewards, said Doo Jin-ho, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul.

首尔韩国国防分析研究所高级分析师杜镇浩（音）表示，朝鲜未来可能会向俄罗斯派遣更多军队，并扩大其军队的行动范围，以加深军事关系，获得更大的回报。

South Korean and United States officials have said they fear that North Korea is receiving badly needed economic aid and assistance in weapons technologies from Russia in return for its troop deployment. Such aid would help North Korea weather the impact of U.S.-led international sanctions and improve its military’s capabilities.

韩国和美国官员表示，他们担心朝鲜正从俄罗斯获得急需的经济援助和武器技术援助，作为向俄罗斯派遣军队的回报。这种援助将帮助朝鲜抵御美国领导的国际制裁的影响，并提升军队的作战能力。