Russia offers North Korea animals to staff Pyongyang zoo

INTERNATIONAL – Here is a new illustration of the rapprochement between these two countries allied against the West and in the conflict in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered North Korea dozens of animals for a zoo in Pyongyang, Moscow announced Wednesday, November 20.

“An African lioness, two brown bears, two domestic yaks, five white cockatoos, 25 pheasants of different species and 40 mandarin ducks were transferred from the Moscow Zoo to the Pyongyang Zoo”indicated the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources. The minister, Alexander Kozlov, who visited North Korea, stressed that it was a “gift from Vladimir Putin to the Korean people,” as you can hear in our video at the top of the article.

Animals unloaded from a cargo plane

His ministry released a video showing the animals, locked in wooden crates, being unloaded from a cargo plane. It also shows the lioness in her new glass and concrete cage at the Pyongyang Zoo. Vladimir Putin had already recently offered 24 purebred horses to Kim Jong-un, who offered dogs to the Russian president.

The two countries, which view the United States as an existential threat, have been moving closer together at high speed since Russia launched an attack on Ukraine in February 2022.

They signed a mutual defense pact on November 12, 2024 and Pyongyang is accused of providing very large quantities of ammunition, missiles and even 10,000 soldiers to the Russian army. Westerners also fear that, in return, Moscow could help North Korea accelerate its nuclear and missile program.

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