Relations between Russia and North Korea are not going well

When Vasily Shershon learnt of a possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, for the Eastern Economic Forum which opened yesterday, he decided to dedicate his latest work in the ‘Murals of Victory’ series to the friendship between Russia and North Korea. To honour the leader of Pyongyang, Shershon aimed high and chose a pillar of Vladivostok’s Golden Bridge; he explained that he had to wait six months to obtain permission to paint on that bridge, knowing it would be difficult and that the mural would provoke a “huge reaction”. The Russian artist said that with his project he wanted to express his gratitude to the North Korean troops who had joined the Russian army to “repel the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk”, but as the area is frequented by children, the image needed to be more friendly, with a serene setting, hence the two soldiers shaking hands, representing ‘two nations ready for war, prepared to defend their values’ and their ‘brotherhood in arms’.

To represent the Russian soldier, Shershon chose General Mikhail Gudkov, who died whilst fighting in Kursk in July 2025, whilst for the North Korean side he said he had watched several documentaries on Pyongyang’s contribution to Putin’s war against Ukraine. This was not enough for the Russians, because whilst some people liked the mural very much, others contested it, and some tried to boycott it by calling the police, who intervened with dogs and rifles. On Russian social media, some questioned whether North Korea’s role as an ally deserved to be celebrated on that bridge – one of the city’s most sacred sites – arguing that neither the alliance in Ukraine nor a possible visit by Kim Jong Un to Vladivostok was sufficient grounds to dedicate a column to it.