SEOUL: A Russian passenger jet landed at North Korea’s main airport Monday, a flight tracking site showed, completing the first commercial leg in decades between capitals of the allied countries.
Russia and North Korea have pulled closer in the last year, with Pyongyang sending weapons and troops to aid Moscow’s war in Ukraine – likely in exchange for technical assistance, experts say.
Tracking site Flight Aware showed Russia’s Nordwind Airlines’ Boeing 777 landing in Pyongyang at 09:15 a.m. (GMT 00:15).
“This is a historical event, strengthening the ties between our nations,” Oleg, a Nordwind employee on the flight who did not give his full name, said at the airport in Moscow Sunday.
A video posted on Russian news agency RIA Novosti’s Telegram account showed North Korean officials and flight attendants welcoming the Russian passengers with flowers at Pyongyang’s international airport.
