Overview

• On July 28, a Nordwind Airlines Boeing 777-200ER completed the first direct commercial flight from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo to Pyongyang’s Sunan airport in over four decades.
• The new service will operate once a month with an eight-hour, five-minute journey covering roughly 6,500 kilometers.
• Russia’s rail link to Pyongyang was restored on June 17 after a five-year pandemic hiatus.
• The air and rail connections reinforce a mutual defense pact signed in late 2024 amid growing Russia-North Korea strategic alignment.
• Since 2022, North Korea has supplied arms, munitions and deployed troops to support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, showcasing their expanding military cooperation.