North Korean People’s Army troops marched alongside Russian soldiers and veterans at Moscow’s Victory Day parade for the first time, a visible sign of how far the wartime relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow has gone. The display unfolded at the heart of Red Square, where this year’s parade went ahead without military equipment and under the threat of Ukrainian drones that had raised fears it could be canceled.

North Korean troops and generals who fought in Kursk were there, underscoring that this was not a ceremonial appearance alone. Their activities continue in Kursk Oblast and in Russia, even as the Kremlin leans more heavily on Pyongyang’s manpower and manufacturing base. What Moscow once cast as wartime solidarity now looks like a practical alliance built in combat and paraded in public.

The relationship has already brought North Korea an estimated US$14.4 billion in pure military deals, according to the figures supplied, and the benefits go well beyond money. Technological transfers have accelerated Pyongyang’s armament in loitering munition and drone technology, ballistic and anti-air systems, its naval program and, potentially, its nuclear sector. North Korea has also received samples of captured Western technology, while the war in Ukraine has been used to test and upgrade its ballistic missile systems.

That shift was on display before the Moscow parade as well. Russia’s Defence Minister Andrey Belousov travelled to Pyongyang and announced a long-term military cooperation plan covering 2027 to 2031, describing ties between the two countries as “unprecedentedly high.” He also awarded North Korean troops and officers the Order of Courage, praising their “bravery and determination” in the “shared success” of the Kursk operations.

The political message was as important as the military one. Moscow’s propagandists increasingly describe Pyongyang as its true and battle-tested ally, while Russia has already shown signs of deeper involvement in North Korea’s nuclear and naval sectors. For Kim Jong-un, the bet on Moscow has paid off in cash, technology transfers and rare public visibility. For Moscow, the cost is a greater dependence on North Korea and the factories that can keep its war machine supplied.

That leaves the implications stretching far beyond Red Square. Seoul, Tokyo and Washington are all watching a partnership that is becoming more durable, more technical and more openly militarized, with the latest parade offering a public measure of just how far it has advanced.