Russian officials confirmed for the first time publicly that North Korean soldiers have been fighting alongside them in the war in Ukraine, as U.S. President Donald Trump shows his patience is running thin with Russia on peace talks in Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine dispute the status of the Kursk region, which Kyiv invaded last year in a surprise and successful incursion into Russian territory.

Russias acknowledgement of North Korean troops comes almost a year after the US, South Korea, UK, and Ukraine stated that North Korean troops were seen at the frontlines of the war.