North Korean military engineers have returned home to a heroes’ welcome from Kim Jong-un after completing their mission to remove mines in Russia’s Kursk region.

According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Saturday, the troops from the 528th Regiment of Engineers attended a welcoming ceremony in Pyongyang the previous day.

In a speech quoted on the website, Kim praised the unit for turning a vast danger zone into a safe place in only three months, when it was feared the mission could take years to complete. 

The regime leader expressed his appreciation for the returning troops while acknowledging what he called “the heartrending loss of nine lives.”

Kim also conferred the Order of Freedom and Independence on the regiment and posthumous honors on the deceased troops, including the title of “Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

After deploying 15-thousand combat troops in support of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, the North sent approximately one-thousand military engineers to support Moscow in removing mines planted by the Ukrainian military.