Kim Jong Un sent New Year’s greetings to North Korean soldiers dispatched overseas in a midnight address Thursday, highlighting the importance the country attaches to troops dispatched in support of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

At a New Year’s Eve event in Pyongyang’s May Day Stadium, the leader extended “militant salutations” to overseas units who are ushering in 2026 “far from home with warm hearts yearning for the motherland,” the ruling party’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported Thursday.

He conveyed New Year greetings to other North Koreans abroad and to other military personnel serving at home for their service to the