Smiling Russian and North Korean soldiers are shown holding their countries' flags as they celebrate a victory over Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region, as well as an image showing soldiers from Pyongyang engaged in armed conflict with Ukrainian forces.
Reuters writes that what is being billed as the largest exhibition of North Korean art held outside the isolated state is the latest sign of rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang - and evidence of their increasingly tight geopolitical alliance in the face of what they say is a hostile West.
It also marks a complete reversal in public presentation. Russia and North Korea have spent months trying to cover up the role that Pyongyang's soldiers played in helping Moscow push Ukrainians out of Kursk, in western Russia. Now it's a topic of public pride for both sides.
"I bow before the achievement of our North Korean brothers in liberating the soil of Kursk," wrote Alexander, one of the visitors, in the book of impressions at the Moscow exhibition.
The offensive, the largest foreign incursion into Russian territory since World War II, began when Ukrainian forces breached the Russian border on August 6 last year, surprising Moscow and putting it in an awkward position.
Ukrainian forces at their peak claimed to hold almost 1.400 square kilometers of the Kursk region, in an operation that Kiev said was designed to relieve pressure on its troops in eastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned his commanders in April to congratulate them on pushing back the Ukrainians, and they praised the North Koreans for fighting with them "shoulder to shoulder."
The deployment of North Korean troops, first officially confirmed that same month, as well as the influx of North Korean weapons, have given Russia a key advantage on the battlefield, according to a Reuters investigation.
The British agency states that this came at a high cost, with British military intelligence estimating that the North Korean force of around 14.000 suffered more than 6.000 casualties.
Socialist realism
A huge photo of Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, shaking hands, dominates the entrance to the exhibition - "DPRK Art Exhibition. Land of a Great People", which is set in a section of the Russian Museum of Decorative Arts in central Moscow.
The exhibition features more than 100 paintings and other works of art, many of which are reminiscent of Soviet socialist realism, according to Reuters.
It shows smiling families looking out the windows of Soviet-style buildings, described as “luxury apartments,” rockets being launched, and satisfied farm workers harvesting their crops.
Other images show combat scenes from the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, in line with the narrative promoted by Pyongyang.
One of them, titled "Bloody American Beasts," shows an American soldier swinging an axe at a North Korean schoolgirl in a bloodied blouse.
Strategic partnership
Putin and Kim signed a strategic partnership agreement last year, which includes a mutual defense pact. Kim, who calls Putin his "dearest friend," has vowed that his country will always stand by Moscow.
The US and South Korea accuse North Korea of sending weapons to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the arms transfers but are more willing to talk about other aspects of their growing partnership.
Direct flights between Moscow and Pyongyang were restored this summer, for the first time since the mid-1990s, as was a direct rail line, which Russia claims is the world's longest direct train journey at more than 10.000 kilometers.
Some Russian tourists are now also choosing to holiday in North Korea, as part of tightly controlled organised tour groups, with agencies promoting a new seaside resort - Wonsan Kalma on the Sea of Japan coast - as worth a visit.
Olga, who visited the art exhibition, said it changed her view of North Korea, which she said was previously based on newspaper reports and clichés, and opened a rare window into how people live there.
"Any country that stands up for its views and defends its interests, in my opinion, deserves respect," she said.
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