North Korean soldiers for the first time marched through Moscow’s Red Square in a subdued Victory Day parade on Saturday, honoring Pyongyang’s deployment to Russia’s Kursk region while DPRK leader Kim Jong Un once again shunned the event.

A column of 127 DPRK soldiers in parade uniforms representing the three branches of the North Korean military took part in the parade marking the 81st anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany on May 9, according to the Kremlin and state media.