- Russia announced on Wednesday that Vladimir Putin is gifting Kim Jong Un about 70 animals for his zoo.
- Russia's environmental ministry said the animals include a lioness, two bears, two yaks, and over 60 birds.
- The new set of animals is another touch by Putin to firm up his alliance with North Korea.
Moscow has sent Pyongyang yet another tranche of animals as gifts, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin seeks to bolster his alliance with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
This time, the animal contingent numbered around 70, according to a statement posted on Wednesday by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Describing the animals as a gesture of friendship from Putin to North Korea, the statement listed a female African lion, two bears, two yaks, five white cockatoos, 25 different species of pheasant, and 40 mandarin ducks among the transfers.
They are being delivered from the Moscow Zoo to the Pyongyang Central Zoo, the statement added.
"I am sure that the animals and birds will be well looked after. They will not get sick and will quickly get used to their new home," said Alexander Kozlov, the minister of natural resources and the environment, in the statement.
Kozlov's ministry said it had previously sent Pyongyang birds such as eagles, cranes, and parrots, but that it was the first time Russia had donated mammals.
Putin has recently been using animal diplomacy to cozy up to Kim. In August, the Times of London, citing a veterinary source in Russia, reportedthat the Russian leader had sent Pyongyang two dozen purebred white horses.
Kim had earlier gifted Putin two Pungsan hunting dogs during the latter's one-day visit to Pyongyang in June. State media painted the trip as a rosy meet between friends, publishing dozens of photos of the two leaders taking a joy ride in a car, playing with dogs, and strolling through presidential gardens.
Putin and Kim both took turns at the wheel in a Russian Aurus limousine in June 2024.
North Korean State Media
They've wrought a public image of their close relationship amid a US-led global push to isolate Russia and North Korea. The West says both nations have breached international law, through Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang's repeated ballistic missile tests.
Putin and Kim have since resorted to turning to each other for help, officiating a mutual defense agreement in June.
Moscow hopes to lean on North Korea as an additional, vital source of manpower, ammunition, and older artillery systems for its war on Ukraine, while Pyongyang has been receiving food, money, and assistance for its nuclear weapons programs.
The budding partnership between both nations represents yet another pathway for Russia to stall the significant collapse that Western sanctions could induce. The Kremlin has been waging a war of attrition in Ukraine, throwing men and military hardware at the front line in hopes of outlasting Kyiv's Western-reliant resources.
As the likelihood of a drawn-out conflict grows, European NATO members such as Germany and Poland have been bolstering their defense spending. In 2023, military spending in Western and Central reached $588 billion, or an increase of about 62% since 2014, per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.