🎙 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question on the situation on the Korean Peninsula (November 3, 2026) ❓ Question: Tensions on the Korean Peninsula, including around the Demilitarised Zone, have escalated sharply, and Seoul is once again trying to shift the blame onto Pyongyang. How do you see the situation in this subregion developing? 💬 Maria Zakharova: Regrettably, the situation on the Korean Peninsula shows no sign of stabilising and continues to deteriorate. Of particular concern is that the situation is deteriorating amid ongoing large-scale military exercises conducted by the US and the Republic of Korea near the DPRK border. These manoeuvres are overtly provocative. By the participants’ own admission, they are designed to rehearse pre-emptive strikes against the DPRK, including with nuclear weapons. ☝️ These exercises are growing in frequency and scale and now extend across land, air, maritime and cyber domains. For example, October saw the US-ROK Iron Mace command-post exercise, which involved rehearsing scenarios for the deployment of US strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula; the ROK Armed Forces’ Hoguk exercise; US military training in airborne operations behind the lines of a simulated adversary; and the second round this year of the joint US-ROK Freedom Flag air exercise, which is scheduled to continue until November 6. In addition, Seoul, Washington and Tokyo practised combat interoperability during the trilateral, multidomain Freedom Edge exercises held in September. ❗️ In these circumstances, we regard the measures Pyongyang is taking to strengthen its security and defence capabilities as entirely lawful and justified, in full accordance with the right to self-defence enshrined in the UN Charter. We urge Seoul to immediately cease its dangerous military games and provocations, particularly in the Demilitarised Zone, rather than seeking far-fetched pretexts for accusing the DPRK or making empty declarations about peace, and to respect Pyongyang’s sovereign right to ensure its own security by all means available.