North Korean leader Kim Jong-un acknowledged his country's "strong solidarity" with Russia in a congratulatory greeting delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Moscow's "Victory Day" holiday, Pyongyang's state media reported on Tuesday.

Kim congratulated Putin on the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II in a telegram sent the day before, according to the North's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
On Monday, Russia marked the 77th anniversary of the holiday. 

In an English-language article, it was reported that  Kim's message "expressed unequivocal solidarity to the cause of the Russian people to root out the political and military danger and blackmail by hostile elements and protect the country's dignity, peace, and security."  "It expressed the hope that the strategic and traditional friendship relations between the two nations would continue to develop in accordance with the needs of the times," it said.

The North has recently emphasised its long-standing relations with Russia, which has been widely condemned for its invasion of Ukraine. A spokeswoman for the North's Foreign Ministry blamed the Ukraine conflict on the US and Western "hegemonic policy" in February.

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