A commercial flight from Moscow landed in Pyongyang, strengthening cooperation between Russia and North Korea
A commercial flight from Moscow landed on Monday in Pyongyang, according to an air traffic monitoring site, Flight Aware, and Russian press agencies; A first for decades marking a new stage in cooperation between Russia and North Korea. According to Flight Aware, a Boeing 777 from the Russian company Nordwind Airlines landed at the main airport in the North Korean capital at 9:15 a.m. (2:15 a.m., in Paris), inaugurating the air connection.
This represents an additional advance in the Moscow-Pyongyang partnership, which has been developing at high speed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022. North Korea actively participated in the war effort of its ally by providing her thousands of soldiers, in addition to weapons and ammunition. According to Moscow, the new airline must be served once a month. Nordwind Airlines offered tickets to some 45,000 rubles (484 euros).
In a video published by the official Russian news agency RIA Novosti on Telegram, we can see North Korean officials and staff host Russian travelers with flowers at Pyongyang International Airport. One of them checks the temperature of the arrivals with an electronic thermometer. According to Ria Novosti, the Russian delegation was led by the Minister of Natural Resources, Alexandre Kozlov. According to Tass, the first flight from Pyongyang to Moscow is to take off on Tuesday.
The two capitals have been united since 2024 by a mutual defense pact and recently reaffirmed their alliance. In mid-July, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, notably assured Moscow of his support “Unconditional” Against Ukraine, during a visit to the chief of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov.
