Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 23, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleSouth Korea asked the Russian embassy in Seoul to remove a “Victory will be ours” banner before the Ukraine war’s fourth anniversary on Feb 24, 2026, calling the invasion illegal and warning against Russia–North Korea military cooperation.
SEOUL, Feb 23 (Reuters) - South Korea has asked the Russian embassy in Seoul to take down a large banner reading "Victory will be ours", its foreign ministry said, just ahead of this week's fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.
The ministry said in a statement on Sunday that it had conveyed its concerns to the embassy without clarifying whether it had received a response.
The roughly 15-metre (49.21 ft) banner, in the colours of the Russian flag and written in Russian, was hung on the embassy's outer wall in central Seoul ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday.
The banner remained in place on Monday.
In its statement, the ministry reiterated South Korea's position that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is illegal.
The ministry also said that military cooperation between Russia and North Korea should stop, describing it as a grave threat to South Korea's security and a violation of the U.N. Charter and U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Earlier this month, Russian Ambassador to South Korea Georgy Zinoviev praised what he described as North Korean troops' role in fighting in Russia's Kursk region, according to media reports.
Under a mutual defence pact with Russia in 2024, North Korea sent some 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian troops against Ukraine, where more than 6,000 of them were killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western sources.
The Russian embassy in Seoul could not immediately be reached for comment by phone. An automated voice message stated the embassy was closed due to a public holiday on Monday.
(Reporting by Kyu-seok ShimEditing by Ed Davies and Saad Sayeed)
South Korea has asked the Russian embassy in Seoul to remove a large banner reading “Victory will be ours” ahead of the Ukraine war’s fourth anniversary, citing diplomatic concerns.
Officials say the slogan is tied to Russia’s war narrative and, displayed in Seoul, risks provoking public sentiment and diplomatic tensions as South Korea opposes the invasion of Ukraine.
Seoul also condemned growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, calling it a grave security threat and a violation of the U.N. Charter and Security Council resolutions.
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